The title “momma” brings with it a love that lifts you up and makes you strive to be someone who goes above and beyond all the responsibilities and expectations that come with being a mother. You want to be the best, to give your children the best. And in a sense, it places you on a pedestal of sorts because never in your life will someone love you with such a wholehearted, blind sense of adoration. Your baby is connected to you from the start, hearing your heartbeat within the womb, and when you lay eyes on each other for the first time — it’s love at first sight. In the same vein motherhood is freaking hard, and no amount of advice can quite prepare you for it, other than becoming a mom yourself. There are trying days that cause you to question your sanity and the job you are doing. However, those deep-belly laughs and sweet baby snuggles quickly bring you back to these little humans and that overwhelming feeling of love.
We recently added the book Love Is to our bedtime story lineup and the first time my husband read it, I cried. It’s a beautiful story of a little girl raising a duckling…the parallels to motherhood really hit home. It starts out: “Love is holding something fragile, tiny wings and downy head. [It’s] noisy midnight feedings, shoe box right beside the bed.” It continues, “Love is in familiar voices, feeling lost, and being found. It’s in the struggles, ready for a bigger pond. It’s sensing when the time is right to lift those wings, to travel on.”
While my two aren’t leaving the nest just yet, they’re already so much more independent than those first couple of months after we brought them home from the hospital; each day growing a little bigger, learning new things, and showing more of their personalities.
For me…
Love is a morning of tantrums and an afternoon of snuggles.
It’s watching the relationship between my babies develop. Wherever there’s one, you’re sure to find the other. it’s clear they’re the best of friends and love each other a lot.
It’s sharing an afternoon bowl of ice cream.
It’s the squeals of laughter as we run around the living room playing tag.
Love is the look my son gets as he turns to me to sing with him during the “As Real As You and Me” scene in the movie “Home.”
It’s feeling overwhelmed because both babies are crying and pulling at your legs for you to pick them up, but you’ve only got two hands and lunch is about to burn on the stove.
It’s squishy hugs from my daughter where she reassuringly pats my shoulder as if to say, “You’ve got this momma.”
It’s sleepless nights when one baby (sometimes both) are sick, and you’d do absolutely anything to take the pain away.
Love is impromptu dance parties.
It’s the joy on their faces as they run to the door when daddy gets home.
It’s a day at the park spent playing in the sand, swinging on the swings, and climbing up the slides.
It’s the feeling of pride in my son’s excitement as he learns new words or my daughter as she starts walking.
Love is cheering at a first soccer practice or being silly in music class.
It’s sticky hands pulling my face towards theirs.
It’s a home that’s perpetually messy.
It’s one baby cuddled up on each side as we read bedtime stories.
Love is even on the hardest of days, finding myself looking at my kids and my heart swells and I can’t help but smile…and just like that everything is okay again.
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