Mothering

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I had intentions of posting this on the actual day that we celebrate mothers, but I woke up to a sweet baby boy who felt awful and had a fever. As my husband put it, our baby needed me to be a Momma on Momma's Day. The bright side is, I got some extra snuggle time in with my sweet toddler who is so on-the-go that snuggle time can be rare. It was a sweet gift. Thankfully though, he's on the mend now. Snuggling is wonderful, sleep deprivation is not.
Now that I'm a mother, I view my life through a very different lens. It happens gradually. I think that's why mom jeans happen. No self-respecting teenager would ever think they would wear them. Ever. But get a few C-sections under your belt, a 9 1/2 minutes hygiene routine (if you're lucky, or wake up extremely early), and zero time to shop. Couple that with requiring a wardrobe that can be tugged on repeatedly and allows you to stuff and un-stuff a diaper bag underneath a shopping cart or stroller repeatedly without showing off your goods to the whole wide world, and sometimes, unfortunately, you might end up with tapered legs and high waists.

Bootcut and mid-rise. Don't waver, ladies. It's for your own good.

Being a mother can be laughable sometimes. If it's not, you'll break down. It's as simple as that.

So one afternoon, as I was looking at at least an hour of naptime (read: free time!) ahead of me, I realized how ridiculously my "lens" had changed when I planned what to do with my hour. And I had to laugh at myself, so I thought I'd let you laugh at...ahem...with me.

-1 hour of free time-

Eat? No, I can do that when the baby is awake. Put that last on the list.

Dishes? And wake the baby?!

Shower? Good idea. Can't do that while the baby is awake.

-45 minutes remaining-

Put the toys away? What's the point?

Make up? Really, am I going anywhere today?

Eat? On second thought, eating without sharing half of my plate or hiding behind the kitchen counter so I don't have to share sounds heavenly.

-25 minutes left-

Email? Yeah, but just for a minute...

-Time's up!-

Mothering is such an incredible responsibility. Sure, it eats away at all of your time, and basically destroys your body (at least temporarily), but you're in charge of molding a human being. It's a heavy thing.

Now that I'm a few years into this mothering thing, I realize Mother's Day isn't about gifts, cards, flowers, etc. I think maybe it's about acknowledgement. It's the world around you saying, Wow, you're working your tail off at a life-long project that might not pan out like you hoped. Thanks for giving it all you got. Keep up the good work.

I'd love to hear what everyone else's Mother's Day looked like so send me an email or comment below. And to all the moms reading this, Thanks for giving it all you've got. Keep up the good work.