Motherhood

10 years ago on May 15th, Mother's Day coincided with the due date for Henry, our first child. David woke me up that Sunday morning and was so excited to give me my first Mother's Day gift, a rocking chair. He had saved his money and completely surprised me with it. It is still sits in our bedroom. Henry, of course, was not willing to be on time and did not arrive until 10 long days later.

That first Mother's Day I could not have imagined my life 10 years and 4 children later. I had no idea about the hours I would spend breastfeeding, not sleeping and worrying about somewhat trivial things. I was clueless about the fatigue, the post-partum pain, the hormones, a completely remodeled body:) I also did not understand the joy of the first smile, first steps, first haircut. Listening to our baby figure out sounds, words, sentences! Babysitters, Nursery, Pre-school, Primary, Kindergarten, Middle school now just a year away! Tantrums, tears, whining, hugs, snuggling in bed in the morning (or sometimes the middle of the night).

The fun of watching my kids excel at a sport or musical instrument. Seeing a talent in your child that you had no idea existed. Getting an excellent report card. Mastering a skill. Observing them being kind. Meeting the friends that your child chose himself, not ones that I hand-picked, and realizing that they are capable of making pretty great choices.

I was unaware of the amount of reading and research that would go into each of my children. I think I have earned the equivalent of 4 PhD's by now- one for each child! What should I feed them? How do I approach his sensitivities? Which pediatrician? Speech therapist? Teacher? Baseball or Lacrosse? Ballet or gymnastics- or both? How can I build self-esteem? Family loyalty? Sibling relationships? How do I get everyone to church on time without the entire family in tears? What makes an effective Family Home Evening? Do my children know that I have a testimony of Christ? Do they know that I know our family can be eternal?

Sometimes I am disappointed, but most of the time I am pleased, proud and grateful to have created this little family (with a huge amount of help/input from David, of course!). I realize that this is my life's work. Is that cheesy? Maybe, but it's true. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a wife and mother. I have to remind myself of this on those mornings that David and I wake up and look at each other and say, "Did either of us sleep last night? Will we be able to function today?". It turns out that I have one of those jobs that never ends and keeps long hours, but the payback makes it all worth it.