My Mother Taught Me...

Right now as I attempt to type one kid has barricaded himself in his room and one is pounding on his door trying to get in, even though he just got whacked upside the head by his self-barricaded brother.  The third is sitting on my desk eating Oreos and leaving a growing pile of "bad parts" next to the keyboard.  It's all so romantic, this mothering schtick... don't you agree?  

And amidst this chaos that is my reality, I know I'll tip-toe into their rooms later tonight, when they are angelic little cherubs sleeping in their beds, and I'll forget all about the gory details and I'll bask in the glory of being their mama. That's what motherhood is to me... the longest hours and days that seem physically draining and loud and never-ending, and yet, the most fleeting moments of supreme joy and intense love that collectively hardly take any time at all.

I've seen more mature mama's in the grocery store watching wistfully as I corral my children and pick up the stuff we leave in our wake, and without fail, they always say, "Enjoy it.  It goes by so quickly."  Sappy?  Yes.  True?  Frightfully so.  I have two four-year-olds and a two-year-old and if I really focus on the speed with which these four years have flown by, I am floored and left breathless. 

"Sometimes I get can get off course by thinking about who these three will become: Will they be happy? Will they be kind? Will they contribute to their world in fulfilling ways? I have to remind myself that the best way to guarantee those things is to focus not on who they will become but on who they are right now. Waking up every day to love these babies, to learn from them, to stumble and make mistakes and then right them, to do life together. And these days of ordinary & mundane things - they will mold all of us into something extraordinary - before we know it.

To my own Mama.  Holy Moly you are it.  The basis of everything I know, you taught me.  I am forever grateful that you faced your own marathon days of babies and toddlers with an attitude of gratitude and a seeming never ending supply of happiness and grace.  I learned how to be happy from you and there is no greater skill in my arsenal.

To our Kaelster's birth Mama.  I think of you every day.  I want to be the kind of mother you look at and are proud of.  You entrusted us with him much like He entrusts us with every one of them.  Our Heavenly bond will always be something I cherish.  I love that our first born baby gave us both life.

To my sweet Mother-in-Law.  I couldn't have hand-picked someone I admire and enjoy more than I do, you.  Your give and take and Gumbi-like flexibility seems to come so naturally when I'm sure it's a skill you've honed through the refiner's fire.  Seeing you as a Grandmother to my own children gives me a little insight to the way you mothered my husband.  I hope mine turn out just like him.

I feel infinitely grateful that I have been given these little souls to shape and care for.  I will do all I can to connect with them every day and shower them with all the love I can squeeze out of this spongey Mama heart of mine.  And while I encourage and empower them... I find my best self along the way.     

Happy Mother's Day Weekend.