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Vol. 2001 Issue 05b ~ Mother's Day

Proverbs 31: 28a Her children arise and call her blessed…

(…eventually...so I’ve been told…)

Mothering is a privilege that I often take for granted. It is an opportunity for growth on my part. It’s an opportunity to lay my life down (over and over and over again, I realize) for someone…but for someone that I love. For someone that God has given me.

I forget…I forget that my children are miracles. I forget that God could have chosen for me a childless life. I forget that they are sweet and precious and gifts straight from heaven. But I want to remind myself and you – mothering, stay-at-home mothering, is something that not every woman gets to do. This is not a burden – being someone’s mom is a gift.

I also think that mothering is harder than it looks. (Do I hear an ‘amen’?) I remember before I was a mom, being able to dish out advice to other mothers on how to handle their kids…or making comments in restaurants – ‘my kids will never behave like that’…

Oh my goodness – this job we have…ladies, it is the hardest career in the world, hands down. First of all, the emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual health of these little creatures pretty much rests on how we handle them the first 18 or so years of their lives…no pressure there! And secondly, let’s be honest – on occasion, it can be slightly boring and tedious…the diapers and the laundry and reading the same book for the 200th time (and it’s usually not even that good of a book!) and when did Steve from Blue’s CluesÓ actually become one of my closest friends?!

Pat yourself on the back – being a mom is hard! And we do it every day, all day, non-stop, basically with very few true breaks or perks.

But on the other hand, I believe that my life as a stay-at-home mom is sometimes better than I let on. Okay, so I sound like I’m contradicting myself a bit here. Mothering is hard. Full-time stay-at-home mothering is hard. Yes, no doubt. But…how many people do you know who go to work outside the house, can actually wear the same sweatshirt 5 days in a row? How many working people do you know that can pretty much eat whatever they want whenever they want – because the kitchen is right there all the time? How many working people do you know that can take a shower at 3 o’clock in the afternoon? Or call a girlfriend just to talk? Or run to the mall in the middle of the day? Or take a nap?

Or lay on the couch with their daughter when she asks for another story? Or look out the window at squirrels with their son for as long as they want because pretty much we have all day open to do just that?

Mothering is hard, ladies – but let’s face it…we have got a good thing going here.

© Elisabeth K. Corcoran, 2001

Elisabeth K. Corcoran is the author of Calm in My Chaos: Encouragement for a Mom's Weary Soul. This column is original and not from her book.

Submitted on : 01-May-2001