Being a Mother, by aebaby

Being a Mother

I didn’t understand real joy until I cuddled my sleeping newborn.

I didn’t understand hurt until I saw my child excluded.

I didn’t understand tired until I held my 2 month old and chased my 18 month old.

I didn’t understand true laughter until I tickled my children and heard their giggles.

I didn’t understand helpless until I couldn’t do anything to make my sick child better.

I didn’t understand patience until tantrums and rain and melting ice cream all met.

I didn’t understand fear until my son drove his big wheel in front of a car.

I didn’t understand true love until I had a child.

I love my mother but never really understood until I had my own. How do you explain to a child that the love you have is more than anything? When they worry if I will leave or if I still love them after a tantrum how do you convey the depth of love with words? I never understood what it meant to be a mom until I had my own, no one can. You cannot possibly imagine loving someone, even a spouse, the same way. As a mom you are their whole world. You help them make sense of it, guide them, care for them, nurture them and love them.

My mother never wrote a book or was given an award. She never went to Washington or starred in a movie. Never piloted a plane or made history. She is a woman who gave up a career to become a stay at home mom and be her children’s world, give her life to her family. She made sacrifices everyday, some small some big; to make sure her children had the best. My mother still puts her children and now her grandchildren first. And we share a bond of understanding that wasn’t there before because until you live it, you can’t understand a mother’s love.