Being A Mom

In lieu of Mother's Day, it's got me thinking about mom-hood. When you become a mom, your entire perception of Mother's Day changes a bit. I mean. . . I'd like to think we all knew how great our moms were. . . how much they did for us, how much they gave up for us. . . all of the late night, the tears, the broken hearts after a high school breakup, the excitement of your first date. . . prom. . . your wedding. Teaching you right fromwrong, good from evil. Really being there through thick and thin. And then. . . you have your own kid. My mom always told me I would never understand how much she loved me until I had my own. . . and she was right. And it never made much sense, I mean, I knew she REALLY loved me. A lot. But that love, that compassion, that truly unconditional love is a feeling that only a mother can know or understand.

I have a good friend who is such a great person. Patient, kind, understanding. . . all of the things that make great mothers. We were talking the other day and she mentioned how she hated that everyone assumed she was going to have children. . . she doesn't really want children, and just the assumption is obnoxious. And I can understand that. But then it got me thinking. . .

There are a lot of really crappy moms out there. Sorry. . . but there are (let's face it). So when we see someone like "my friend" we automatically assume they will be a mother. And really. . . most women do become mother's sooner or later, there are very few women who aren't. So maybe it's just a case of statistics. CHANCES are, she'll be a mom. I digress. . .

So then I was having just another random, simple day. . . doing something not necessarily memorable with B and I thought, "I am SO happy." Like. . . unimaginably happy. Happier than I ever in a million years would've thought I could ever be. And just like the Mother's Love. . .this is Mother's Happiness. You can not even begin to understand what it feels like until you are a mother. It's indescribable. Even the parents that have the "whoops" babies, will say that it is the best "mistake" they ever made. And okay. . . before kids I thought, "yeah. . . I get it. You love them. They make you happy."But REALLY people, you just can't understand what that means until you have one of your own. It is amazing. It's like this out-of-body experience you get when you just think, "My life ROCKS. I am the luckiest person in the world. This little person is SO freekin' amazing!". (Okay, maybe not those exact words, but something similar to that!) Even saying that B makes me "so happy" sounds like such a small, teensy, itty-bitty fraction of an emotion of what I really feel. (Haha. Some days. It's not to say there aren't rough days, too!)

So then, I can understand why people would WANT people like "my friend" to have kids. You want them to experience that love and that unimaginable happiness. Because if you are a mom and you really KNOW what that is, imaging anyone living without it is almost heartbreaking. So I just try to remind myself that the average person. . . the average "non-mother" already thinks they are happy. Maybe even REALLY happy. Or SUPER happy. But boy. . . they have no idea!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!