Motherhood is Extraordinary

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So, this week, I decided to blog about special moms in my life, instead of food, in honor of Mother’s Day.  Happy Mother’s day to all of you fabulous moms out there.  You are doing great! (Even if your kid ate a handful of Cheetos and some stale french fries, that he found on the floor in the car, for lunch today.  You are still doing great). You are so important. No one else can do your job quite like you do.  Motherhood is hard, but it is also extraordinary.

My Mom

I have such a wonderful mom. We are similar in a lot of ways.  Often times we say the same thing at the same time, which is a little creepy, I’ll admit.  We laugh at the same silly jokes, and once you get us laughing, we can’t stop. I have many memories of my mom and I laughing so hard that we start crying.  (Like that time we played the speak out game, just her and I because all the others were party poopers. Mom couldn’t get the mouthpiece to stay in her mouth and just about flung it across the room. I constantly had drool dripping down my chin.  Trying to say the Chinese menu items was particularly hilarious).

My mom has been so many things to me in my life. I think, in the stage of motherhood that I am in, I am so grateful to have her as a friend I can go to for advice.  I never fully understood how much my mom did for me until I became a mom. I am so thankful for my mom. She always has my back. She always cares, and she would do anything for me and my family.  God blessed me with the best. I sure wish that everyone could experience that. I just hope that I can be as good of a mom as she is.

My Mother-in-law

I also have have a place in my heart for my mother-in-law.  I am grateful for her friendship. Especially the times we rode home from the lake together, chatting the whole way or the time we had great fun searching ancestry.com, for 4 hours straight, to find out more about her family.  I am so thankful that she raised my husband to be the honest, genuine, trustworthy, hard working, loyal man of God that he is today. She says my husband was a pretty easy kid. (She has to be making that up. I can’t imagine his stubbornness just appeared out of nowhere one day.)

My kids

As a mom, I am also extremely blessed.  I have the sweetest kids. I know I am bias, but they are unbelievably caring people.  They are always concerned about others and love unconditionally. Sometimes my 7 year old will defend her brother against me if she thinks I am being unjust in a consequence that I have given him.  This is, clearly, not her decision, but I do love that she cares so much for her brother. My kids get along really well. I mean, obviously they have their fights over toys or over who gets to sit where at the supper table, but for the most part they get along.

My kids love to snuggle at bedtime.  They always want me to lay with them for a while.  A couple of nights ago my 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son were particularly snugly.  I laid with my son for a while. Then I told him I had to go lay with his sister for a bit.  I laid with my daughter, then went back to check on my son. My daughter comes out of her room and says, “That’s not fair.  You were in his room twice. Don’t I get to have you in here twice?” I need to cherish these moments because there will be a day where they don’t want to snuggle with me anymore.” (I am dreading this, by the way.  Like it almost makes me sick to my stomach to think about my kids growing up).

You Get to Choose What Type of Motherhood Experience You Have

Your motherhood experience is all about your mind set.  Having a positive attitude is key. Yes, there are crappy things that happen. (Like the other day when I found my 2 year old in her playhouse with her diaper off playing in her own poop). Bad things will happen. How you handle them is what makes the difference between a bad motherhood experience and a good one.

I have been very mindful of where my focus has been lately. I am focusing on the good things (how awesome my kids are and how being a mother is amazing) and not on the bad things (how tired I am or how much I really hate repeating myself for the tenth time when telling any of my children to do anything). My heart is full because I am choosing to focus on the positive things.  For example, there is nothing better than your child randomly coming up to you, at least once a day, and saying, “I love you so much mom” and then giving you the biggest hug ever. This almost makes me forget about the tantrums, the pouting and poop smeared everywhere, almost. Motherhood is a lot of things, both good and not so good, but one thing I know for sure is that it is extraordinary.