Lately in motherhood, I …
Made countless chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese dinners.
Read The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes to Sophie even though I was tired and didn’t want to read a “long” book before bed.
Went on a nature walk with Sophie and Bryan, and watched while Sophie bravely crawled across a fallen tree.
Pushed Sophie on the swings at the park and helped her cross the monkey bars.
Read Cinderella to Sophie during our visit to the local library.
Managed to break Sophie of the habit of coming in to sleep in our bed in the middle of the night (but admit that I kind of miss her there too).
Gave Sophie $1 so she could by hummus from the Farmer’s Market vendor.
Lost my cool and told Sophie I may stuff her mouth with cotton balls if she didn’t stop screaming so much (after which I regretted the remark when she cried and said she wouldn’t be able to breathe).
Let Sophie apply eye make-up to my forehead, paint my nails and “style” my hair.
Cried as I was presented with a beautiful drawing of the Sophie and me, a tote bag with our portraits, and a “My Mommy” book at Sophie’s school’s Mother’s Day .
As I celebrated my sixth Mother’s Day yesterday, I thought a lot about how motherhood is such a crazy, amazing, beautiful, frustrating, scary, and happy thing. There are still times that I feel pure joy one minute and utter frustration the next. One day I feel like I’m doing okay being a mom, and the next day I worry I’m not doing the best I should for my daughter. But I think the secret to it all is not getting caught up in those moments of despair and really living in the joy and happiness (which, thankfully for me, are more than the feelings of despair).
I look at Sophie and I am so proud of the little person she is becoming. She amazes me each and every day. I’m in awe of her strength, bravery, sense of curiosity, and love of learning. And yet she can also be the most sensitive and empathetic person (and pretty damn funny). I am so blessed and grateful that she brings such happiness and love to my life every day. She has taught me so much more than I ever expected to learn.
Thank you to Erin at Such Small Steps for inspiring the “Lately in Motherhood” post idea. She wrote “Motherhood Lately,” which was so good I had to borrow the concept. Check out her blog — it’s one of my favorites!