I seem to have developed a bad habit of doing things after the fact lately and I’ve sent four belated birthday greetings this month alone. Since my arrival into the role of motherhood arrived a few days later than my due date, I guess it’s fitting that my blog about Mother’s Day happens a bit late too. 😁
In August 1997, my world shifted on its axis when I discovered that I was pregnant. After over a year and a half of trying, suddenly it seemed surreal that it was actually happening. That moment is one of the best memories I have. It opened up my world to a life full of possibility, hope and love.
Every twinge, every flutter and even every bought of heartburn was a beautiful reminder of the fact that I was soon going to be a mother. A fact that was as terrifying as it was exciting. By the time Taylor made his grand entrance into the world in April of 1998, I was so excited to meet the person that I had already fallen completely in love with.
This adorable little boy changed my life in beautiful ways from the moment he entered it. Motherhood was always something that I wanted to experience for as long as I can remember but I quickly learned that it’s way tougher than it looks.
When you sign up for the job of parenthood, you know that you’re in for a cute little baby with their sweet little face, squirmy little arms and legs and smiles that make you melt. You know they will cry and poop but hey, it will be easy. You played with dolls and maybe have younger siblings so you have got this, right?
And they are cute and they do cry and they get liquids, solids and semi-solids on you. A lot. You’re exhausted and you worry and you wait and all along you hope that you get it right. At least most of the time. You celebrate (and grieve a little) at each milestone because it means that things are changing and they are growing up, which ultimately, is as it should be.
You take your job very seriously, even though a lot of it is very fun and then one day you realize that the job title will always be the same (Mom or Dad and all the variations of those) but as your children grow and age and change, your job description changes too.
In some ways, our roles as parents are phased out one step at a time and I really struggled with that when it was time to get ready for Taylor to spread his wings and chart his own path. I was constantly worried about how things would go for him. Would he have enough money? Would he eat okay? Would he be safe?
Thankfully, he was all over it and has been successfully Adulting for nearly four years now. Although I still worry about him, I also take time to enjoy the memories we’ve made together and the milestone moments we’ve celebrated while looking forward to future milestone moments too.
Among the perks of having my son in my world is that I get to keep the title of “Mom” for life and at this point the work week is much shorter than it used to be. I’m actually just on call most days. 😁 I’m enjoying watching my son getting to experience some of the many joys of adulthood and independence and he makes me so very proud.
Parenthood is still my favorite calling ever, but my role is a bit different now which allows me to rediscover who I am, outside of being Taylor’s mother. Getting to know the people we are separately, together has been one of the greatest experiences in life so far. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for both of us.
In the meantime, I’ll quietly continue to love him bigger than the sun, bigger than the moon, bigger than the stars, bigger than the Universe and thi…………sssssss much more.❤️
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