Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day…homemade cards from my kids and hubby, dark chocolate, a picnic at the park, skipping rocks in the river, and extra kisses…I love it. Mother’s Day was such a great invention. One day, set aside to recognize Mom. Yes even on Mother’s Day, Jackson still poops in his pants and wakes up too early, and Samuel is right now shrieking from his high chair, “OWWW DONE! OWWWW DONE!” (All done), demanding Mommy. But Mother’s Day, for me, is a day to count these things as blessings…I have four little ones who need me, want me, and love me. And frankly I need them, want them, and love them more every day. I am becoming…a mother.

I was a mother when my first was still doing the backstroke in amniotic fluid; something definitely changed. Love…exploded from…where? When number two came so close on the heels of number one…I doubted. Can I be a mother of two only 18 months apart? I transitioned from work to home and for several years experienced lost identity when I wondered if I liked the new me: Do I have any other name but “Mama”? Could I even hold an intelligible conversation with someone older than 4 years old? Will I ever complete a conversation without wildly glancing around the room for a little escapee? Did I ever hold a profession other than Bottom Wiper, Laundry Maid, Nurse, Counselor, and Cook?

Some days I still feel those wonderings stir, but now, two more babies later, I have to laugh because I commonly refer to myself in the third person, even to adults. I’m embracing my momminess. I’m learning to wear my “Mama” i.d. badge with a little more pride, seeing how quickly this honorary status as “the only one who will do” is bound to pass. I’ve been mentored by the professional mamas in my life, and I’ve observed master mamas and “mama-hearted” women in action who have not just survived the stages we’re going through, but turned them into incredible, memorable, life-changing, bonding moments. They’ve poured their lives, their passion, their “best years” into loving little human beings. Because of these amazing ladies, I’m inspired to laugh a little harder, squeeze a little longer, and love a little better. I am becoming…a mother.