Motherhood

Yesterday, we were at the Library for story time. The library is decorated for Halloween right now, and on one of the bookshelves there is a bear that had been wrapped in cloth to look like a mummy. Jackson was looking at it for a while and asked, "what's that?" I said, "I mummy bear" He waited a minute than asked, "Where's the daddy bear?" The librarian, who was decorating another shelf behind us, and I just started to laugh- so cute!

On another note, There is a new movie coming out called Motherhood, (though I don't think it's one I'll go see on the big screen) and the main character "Eliza" represents frazzled mothers in the thick of all the craziness that surrounds raising kids. In the movie she is trying to finish an essay for a local magazine contest. Parenting Magazine interviewed Uma Thurman, who plays Eliza, and picked up on the idea of the movie and so they are holding their own essay contest. I decided to enter. In 300 words or less I had to write an essay on "What Motherhood means to me" and send in a picture that went with my essay's theme. I'm not too concerned about the prize, and my essay may not be "award winning", but when I started to think about how I would respond to that essay, the words just started to come. SO I wrote them down, and before I knew it I had an essay. SO why not? I'm sending it in!

Brian edited it for me, he's great at that. Taraleigh took the picture of my kids wearing my grad cap. Cute huh?

Here it is:

Motherhood is the ultimate teaching experience. I am not talking about teaching babies how to walk and talk, the 1-2-3’s and A-B-C’s. I am not talking about potty training toddlers, teaching them to avoid strangers, and look both ways before crossing the street. And I am not even talking about teaching kids how to behave politely, exercise proper etiquette, or how to make good life choices. Although these are all important things to teach our children, they are inherent with motherhood. It’s part of the job. The teaching experience I am referring to is regarding what I have learned from my children about myself and what I can become. This teaching experience has taught me more than any formal educational experience, and that is a bold statement considering the ‘teachers’ are toddlers. These teachers have taught me the finer virtues and attributes of life that just can’t be learned in the library. When all is said and done, should someone speak praise of me, it will be because of who I was, not what I knew. And who I am will be a compilation of what my children have taught me: how to love more deeply, show patience, understanding, forgiveness, and how to work hard. Have I mastered any of these? Of course not. The role of motherhood is teaching me new things everyday (and sometimes at night). This course does not have a final exam, rather daily quizzes. Parents with children will have experiences of their own to know what I am talking about. Could we learn these life-changing attributes another way? Maybe; but it would take a lot longer to finish that course. Ultimately, motherhood means that I can become a better person than who I was before...and all because the teachers are toddlers!