It’s Mother’s Day here in the US. A day we celebrate how much our Moms do for us every day. The sacrifices they make- emotionally, physically and of their time. Its a day where the whole family gets to say “Thank You” and take care of everything Mom usually does. There’s no laundry happening, no washing dishes, no vacuuming, no picking up, no making breakfast, lunch or dinner, no cleaning, and no grocery shopping. Unless someone else is doing it.
Being a Mom is a 24/7 job. If someone needs something in the middle of the night, Mom is there. Its sitting with your sick daughter and holding her hair as she throws up. Its rubbing an upset tummy on your 4 year old because thats the only thing that helps it feel better. Its being woken up when someone has a bad dream and needs the safety of Mom’s warm body in bed. Its being the one they run to, to soothe an owie, or get the band-aid that makes it all better.
We sacrifice our emotions, and do what’s right for our kids, even when we feel sad or angry about it. We take care of our kids’ ever changing emotional states and help them navigate the world. We put our kids and their needs first, before ours, because we know we can defer our needs while we take care of theirs because they are new in this world and we have been here and have experience.
We use our bodies to grow them for 9 months. They stretch our skin, and tweak our backs, and kick our bladders, and then they come out, and sometimes cause injury on the way out. And still we put them first. We hold them in our arms for hours a day, and and feed them with our breasts through cracked and bleeding nipples, because we know its what best for them. If someone had told me everything I would give up as a Mom, I don’t think I would’ve believed you. Seeing the newest movie in the theaters- nope. Going for an hour run whenever I want- nope. Staying up late reading a great book- nope. Going to all my favorite concerts and sleeping in the next day- umm… big nope.
I do miss some of those things, but I wouldn’t trade 1 minute of being a Mom for being able to do those things whenever I want. My life is full of giggles, snuggles, happy tears {sometimes sad tears too}, soothing boo boos and hurt feelings, being the safe place when feelings are hurt, and 3 little people I grew that I love more than anything in this Universe. Tell your Mom you appreciate her today, and remember everything she does everyday, and not just on Mother’s Day. Because chances are, she would do everything she did for you anyway, because she loves you, but having someone recognize it makes it that much more awesome to be a Mom.
Holistic Living RN 