I couldn't ask for arms that are more full. Someone mentioned to me offhand today that we mothers of young children should get extra recognition because we are in the trenches. My initial thought was to agree. I'm always "on". From sun up to sun down and everywhere in between I'm in charge of feeding, bathing, changing diapers, entertaining, scaring away monsters, teaching, rocking, dancing, playing, etc. I never get a break. Someone is always attached to me. Someone always needs me.
However, my life has also taught me that every woman is a mother who is doing her best for her children. I have always been a mother. I have always wanted to be at this point with my children. I have yearned for and prepared for it from my earliest days. For years I studied and prepared. I endured treatment after fertility treatment and the process of adoption. Similarly, I will be a mother long after my children leave home. I will worry over them from afar. Over the past three months my mother and mother-in-law have spent countless hours in my home watching my babies (yay naps and showers while someone watches the kids). They have done laundry, built fences, mowed lawns, done dishes, made meals, moved my house, swept floors, and in general, mothered me. I don't think the trenches of motherhood ever really start or stop. Sometimes our motherhood trench is just deeper than others.
So today, I celebrate all mothers. Whether your arms are extra full like mine, or empty. You are a mother. You are doing your best for your children and the children around you. You are wonderful. No matter how deep or shallow your trench, you deserve to know that you are loved and appreciated. I'm so grateful for all of the mothers in my life. My own loving mother, my husbands mother, my grandmother, my son's birth mother and birth grandmother, sisters and sister-in-laws, and so many more have influenced me for the better. They have made my life wonderful. Happy Mother's Day!
