Nobody ever told me . . .

I always knew I wanted to be a mom and have the experience of parenting. I was always very attracted to children, and children were very attracted to me. My friends who had kids always told me how wonderful the entire experience was and that I needed to experience it for myself.

My best  friend, who does not have any of her own children, but has many nephews and a niece, told me all of the reasons that she just wanted to be an aunt and not a mom. She shared with me those moments when she would watch her nephews and wanted to pull out her hair, even though she loved them very much. For her it was not the lifestyle she wanted.

Even if someone were to tell me all the joys and all the frustrations of being a mom, I would not have understood until I experienced it for myself. I would have never felt  how it feels to have both of my boys slide out of my body and be placed on my chest, touching them for the very first time. I would have never been able to experience what it was like to breastfeed them. I would have never known the bond that creating them would have created with my husband. I also would have missed out on being thrown up on, being pooped on, and even being rejected by my own kids.

Parenting is an amazing ride, and the secret that I have found to be able to come back to my joy (at least so far) is to stay centered.

No one ever told me that becoming a parent  meant that I was also a cook, a waitress, a nurse, a taxi cab driver, a referee (due to having more than one child), a stylist, a manicurist, a pedicurist, a clown, a coach, a nanny, and the list goes on and on.

Through it all (and it has been a short ride for me so far), it is when I am resistant that I don’t enjoy the process. It is when I am focused on what I don’t want or don’t have that I become frustrated. When I focus on what I do want, what I do want to experience, and I stay in appreciation and gratitude, that is when I enjoy being a mom.

Even though nobody ever told me about the ride, I would still do it again and again.

You are doing a good job!