The gifts motherhood has given me
Motherhood has been the most exhilarating, beautiful, exhausting and fascinating adventure of my life. My two miracles, as I like to call my children, fill me with love and strength every second of their existence. They also constantly surprise me, in both good and bad ways.
The other day brought a beautiful surprise. My daughter explained to me that she has been saving money to get me a Mother’s Day gift, and it choked me up (yes, I cry easily), but it also had me reflecting upon the fact that being a mom has given me many unexpected gifts that no money in the world can buy. Here are three lessons motherhood has given me, which I view as gifts. Why? Because I believe they have made me a better person.
Being a mother has given me patience. Each cry from my babies, each temper tantrum, each illness has taught me to be patient. Even before I was able to get pregnant it seems I needed to learn the gift of patience.
Motherhood has also taught me that routine is not a dirty word. When I was younger and had no kids to worry about, I despised predictability. I viewed it as boring. Now that I am a mom, I actually crave structure and routine. It seems that everything about parenting is so unpredictable that those rare moments when things go according to plan fill me with an unexpected satisfaction. I even cherish small routines we have created in our family, whether it’s a bedtime prayer or waiting for my son at the bus stop by the mailboxes on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Another wonderful gift that my children have given me is learning to adapt. Remember what I said about unpredictability? Well, being a mom requires the skill of adaptation. Even if you like structure, control and routines, once you have a child you’ll learn that even the most thought out plans can’t account for everything. Your kid might get sick, there might be unexpected traffic on your way to pick your child up from school, or your babysitter might bail on you just when you’re heading out to a business meeting. I used to get extremely anxious when things didn’t go according to what I had so meticulously planned. Now I might get frustrated for a couple of minutes and then I get busy trying to solve the issue or if I cannot fix it, I simply accept it and go with the flow.
Aside for learning what unconditional love is really like, what gifts do you feel motherhood has given you? Are there any unexpected lessons that you have learned since you became a mom?
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!
