It begins with the sleepless nights because of this new little person in our home who really doesn't care who's asleep when the hunger pain hits. As you wake with a shock because you think the police siren is blaring in your room, you realize it's only the wails of that person who is no longer than your thigh bone. They decide it's more fun to snuggle on mommy than to lay in their bed, and they demand their soiled diapers be changed that instant and then cry when you struggle to remove it.
And as they grow, they can live in a soiled diaper. They don't care. It belongs to them and they want to keep it. So when you finally catch them sloshing through the house it takes straight jackets, body slams and wrestling moves to pin them down long enough to clean them up.
The toddler years....the terrible two's is a blur of giggles, tantrums, sticky kisses and dandelion bouquets. There are imprints of matchbox cars and GI Joes on the soles of your feet, you don't have clothes anymore without stains, and most dinners contain chicken nuggets or mac and cheese.During the school years your house is an art museum of pictures that contain stick families, happy dogs, and smiling suns. You struggle to remember the spelling rules...does 'i' come before 'e' and there's something about a 'c'.....how do you divide fractions.....and last minute projects.
Oh, and teenagers....that's a whole new universe. Where did they get that attitude and why are they acting just like me? Riding in the car with the new driver involves white knuckles, nausea, lots of Tums and Tylenol. There are love interests and broken hearts.....victories and failures. They struggle and strain to burst out of their childhood cocoons to become an adult.
Even though children have no clue, mothers walk every step with them. Sometimes you carry them, sometimes you're behind them with your arms ready to catch them, sometimes you're hiding in the background as they struggle to make decisions, but you're always in front of them with open arms for encouragement, celebration of accomplishments, or just because you love them.
I'm so glad that I made that decision to be a mom. I'm so in awe of those adults who used to be my babies. I look at them and wonder how they became such great people when I bumbled and fumbled through motherhood, but that's just how God always works; He blesses our efforts and He multiplies our successes. I was given these tiny little seeds of humans and I have seen them grow and bloom into beautiful, caring, productive adults. I am a mother and I am so blessed.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. Proverbs 31:25
