What does it feel like to be a mommy?

Immagine that you went to bed at midnight after cleaning the house after a long day of chasing your children and it's now 6:30 am and you hear one of your children (or your only child) waking in the next room. You are exhausted and you know that today is going to be a busy day trying to meet the demands of being Mom.

Your daily tasks include changing diapers, providing entertainment, wiping runny noses, preparing meals, bathing, cleaning, and struggling through nap and bed time. However, the benefits that you recieve are endless love and a lifetime of smiles and sweet memories.

Motherhood is often a job that is tiring, demanding, stressful and you don't get paid for it. Honestly, I wouldn't trade it for the world. There are challenges everyday. Trying to convince a headstrong 2 year old that we are NOT going outside right this second is definately a lesson in patience. But then when that very headstrong 2 year old wanders up to you and looks you in the eye and sais "I love you" all of the struggles are worth it.

Someone once asked me "Why do you want to have children?" I had to think for a bit because who really knows what drives a woman to want a baby. Is it that sweet bundle that the nurse wheels into your room after a difficult delivery? Is it the lifetime of imaginative play pretending you are the Queen and your daughter is the Princess or you son is the Knights and you are the dragon? I wanted children because I want a legacy. A peice of me that lives on after I leave this earth. I wanted to feel that unconditional love only a child can give you. I wanted to smell the top of my babies freshly washed head. I wanted to show the world that I love my husband enough to grow a family with him.

Parenthood is full of joys and sorrows. Things like first words, first smile, first steps and first haircut are all milestones and just about every mother knows that pictures and celebrations follow. Things like first boyfiriend/girlfriend, first heartbreak, drinking, and leaving for college are often feared. It hurts to see your child go through these things but you have to look at it as the world education that they recieve. I am not saying that we need to tell our children to go out and get drunk, but if they do, they need to fully experience the aftermath and take responsibility for their actions. I view going off to college not as a time for sorrow, but a time for celebration. They made it into the college of their choice, to study their program for choice and they did it with you help but more their own hard work! They too quickly go from that wiley 2 year old that loves to defy you to the adult child that is going off to Harvard.

Enjoy the years of innocence. Tell your child that you love them as often as possible. Nurture their interests and education both from books and real world experience. Motherhood feels like a lifetime of wiping butts and runny noses but it's the best years of your life! I love being a mother and cannot remember the days when I didn't have a butt to wipe or meals that needed to be nutritious. I don't remember the days when my privacy was sacred and my body was mine and not subject to little fingers poking and prodding. But those are minor sacrifices to me. Having a child in your life to love and experience all of the ups and downs with is the most special thing I have ever done!