Importance of Motherhood

I wear a lot of hats.  Business Owner, Dance Teacher, Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer, Board President, Meetup Organizer, Women's Club member, Doula, Wife, Friend, Mom.  It's that last one that is most important and that seeps into everything I do.

I've wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember.  Once I learned that moms were where babies come from I was ready.  Really!  I'm not exactly sure where the strong pull came from, but it was a part of my consciousness all through my growing-up years.

When I found myself pregnant for the first time I threw myself into the roll, reading EVERY book I could get my hands on (I worked at a bookstore at the time - can you imagine?) to get ready for the baby.  I didn't focus so much on prepping for labor, but more-so for the task of parenting.  I was so excited about finally (finally, at the age of 21) getting to be a mom!

When Forest arrived I was hooked.  In love.  And 100% a Mom.  She was my everything, and my biggest concern was with keeping her safe and well.  We had bumps in the road along the way for sure, but I loved being a mom.  I worked full-time, juggled my way into a career, and navigated relationship ups and downs, all while being 100% a mom.

When we had Quinn four years later, I felt like I had a good grounding in the basics of motherhood, but he had new things for me to learn and practice.  I was able to improve on some things from the first time around (breastfeeding - 2nd time's a charm!) and had an interesting time juggling two kids having zero sibling experience.  I don't remember doing much more than working and moming when Quinn was small, but that was plenty.

Grey arrived as our third and final family addition three years later.  Being mom to three kids was QUITE a challenge, but we worked out the kinks fairly early on and I found my mom-legs again soon enough.  I added the most "other" things to my life after he was born.  When he was 1 I started doing doula support.  When he was 2 I started my own business in earnest.  When he was 3 I found bellydance.

Through all of these additions to my world, mom-ing stayed the most important "job".  I love my kids with all my heart and soul. I am thrilled to say that I like them, too!  Seeing them grow and flourish into solid individuals is awesome in the truest meaning of the word.

So what does it mean to me to be a mom?  I should have all sorts of flowery prose to explain that, right?  I don't.  I can only say that I AM a mom.  My kids come first in my mind.  My absolute most important task is doing what I can to help them grow up healthy, well, and safe.  I make decisions of all kinds with them in mind.

They probably don't realize how important they are to me, and how much I think about them every day.    That's ok.  I think that may be the way things are supposed to be.

Happy Mother's Day!