Yesterday was Mother's Day. My first official Mother's Day. To be honest, it didn't start out perfect. My little guy had a tough night of sleep, so in turn so did I. My husband did what he could, but he didn't feel so well, and I couldn't blame him. Then to top it off, my kitchen sink sprung a leak at 7 am. It wasn't a smooth "breakfast in bed" kind of morning, but it was real life, and what was there to do but go with the flow.
I haven't really considered it until now, that I'm a part of a club called Motherhood. It's me that gets celebrated along with millions of other moms out there. It's a new and strange feeling. It's been nearly 9 months since he came into our lives. I still don't think I've really come to grips with how much my life has changed, and I don't mean in a "less sleep, more stress" kind of way.
My life has changed for the better. For starters, I cherish my own upbringing more. I look back on my upbringing with much more appreciation than I used to. I'm not saying that I didn't appreciate my mom before. It's just that I see all of her sacrifices with a greater amount of love, because now I can relate.
I cherish the little things more. Just watching my son learn how to shake a maraca brings a smile to my face. Milestones are incredible, but the little things mean something too.
By no means am I perfecting the art of motherhood, and I'm sure I never will. At 9 months, my son hasn't mastered the art of rolling over yet, and has no interest in crawling, so I constantly worry that he's not learning these things. It's easy to want him to grow up fast and meet these milestones. However, I need to remember to slow down and just enjoy where he's at, right now, in this moment - because it will be gone all way too soon. 9 months are already gone, and the rest will continue to fly by. I want to cherish every moment that I can with him while he's little.
No, yesterday morning may not have been perfect, but that's life as a mom. (Don't worry, lilacs and a delicious dinner together with family, made the rest of the day great.) It's fun to now relate in a way that I never could before to other mom's, and because of my son, I'm learning to love life and appreciate the people in it even more.
Happy Belated Mother's Day, Mommies! ~ Erin
My mom with my son, then and now.
