Parent Talk bloggers reflect on Mother's Day
Whether you share the same sweet sentiments or the true realities (albeit sometimes unpleasant realities) of being a mom, you can appreciate all the little moments that make you love your children all that much more. So in honor of Mother's Day, the Parent Talk bloggers reflect on the moments they knew they were a mom:
*There are many defining moments in a mother's life when she just knows she's a mom. For me, it happened many times during my daughter Maggie's first year. Who am I kidding? I knew I was a mom when I felt her dancing around inside of me before she was born. I felt such a closeness to her even then. There are a lot of tender moments that I hold close to my heart, that made me really realize I was a mom. One of my favorites is watching Maggie sleep. At night when I'd go in and check on her, the calmness that takes over my body as I watch her sleep is something that is more comforting than my own sleep -- even now that she's 2 years old. I'm almost five months pregnant with my second and listening to Maggie tell everyone she's going to be a big sister makes me excited of what is yet to come. --Jennifer Berger
Thirty-seven hours and 18 minutes after I checked into the hospital, Harrison came into the world. The 9-pound, 2-ounce ruddy skinned boy cried wildly when the doctor held him up for us to see for the first time. He continued to cry as the staff cleaned, weighed, measured, wrapped and capped him, and then when they placed him in my husband’s arms. Then, finally, my husband brought Harrison to me. As I held him and said hello, the baby’s quivering lip relaxed. Then his eyes widened, looking like dark, wet stones. I swore he looked into my eyes, and he seemed to be listening. And for the first time, I felt like a mother. -- Valerie Kellogg
This story is less about when I knew I was a mom and more about one time I really felt like one. When my son was in early elementary school, he had to have stitches on the side of his forehead. The principal called me at work to tell me he’d need a plastic surgeon. When I arrived at the school nurse’s office, my son’s relief was palpable. He needed me to reassure him he wasn’t going to die (apparently there was initially a lot of blood). When we got to the surgeon’s office, I stayed with my son for the stitching procedure, holding his hand and distracting him with a made-up story about the upcoming Thanksgiving Day parade. I created a tale about his dad being transformed into one of the enormous flying balloons, wearing a purple cape and matching purple sneakers. That’s when I felt like a mom, a source of comfort to my child when he was afraid. -- Beth Whitehouse
I knew I had graduated from being a pregnant woman to a mother the moment I held my firstborn in my hands and knew I was fully responsible for the tiny being's well-being, from feeding to changing and taking care of her when she fell ill. Now that my firstborn and my second- and third-born are older, my concept of motherhood has grown as well. Now I know that I have to let my children be their own person and give them space to grown into their own. I am seeing my oldest child, now 17, turn into a beautiful young lady and my teen and tween, coming into their own. I know that as a mother I can never be there for them at all times, nor provide for their every need or take away all their pain, but I can be there to guide them along and lend an ear and offer my support and love. -- Leema Thomas