The four human beings I am happy to call my children are the greatest things that have ever happened to me. I can’t imagine my life without them. This is my absolute favorite picture of the four of them, taken years ago when H was a baby. They are all so happy. Also, this is my proof to them that they can all get along.
Being a mother is the one thing I have been absolutely certain of in my life, and not something I could ever walk away from. It’s taken me a long time to figure out what I wanted for a career, what kind of person I wanted to be, how I wanted to live my life; but I always knew with such an absolute conviction from deep within, that I wanted to be a mother.
The other day my daughter got inducted into the National Honor Society, and as a proud parent I was sitting there, bursting with pride as my daughter stepped on stage and they shared portions of the essay she had written when she applied. The one question every student had been asked was “If you could have dinner with one person, past or present, who would you eat dinner with?” There were a variety of answers, ranging from notable figures such as The Pope and Martin Luther King Jr., to other famous people such as Adele and the cast of One Tree Hill.
My daughter’s response? “If I could have dinner with one person, either past or present, I would have dinner with my mom.” The kid sitting next to her wanted to have dinner with President Obama, she wanted to have dinner with me, her mother.
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty proud, and may have teared up a little. I’m sure a lot of the students on stage love spending time with their parents, too, but it was my daughter who had made a point to mention me in her Honor Society essay.
It’s those moments that make me realize just why I love being a mom.
But it’s not just those big proud moments. It’s all the other moments, like when they’re sad, and they come to me for comfort. It’s the times that they are up on stage and I see them scan the audience to make sure I’m sitting there. It’s the nights I spent, staying up all night, cuddling a sick baby. It’s those days when I see my kid struggling to make it through a race, but not only does he not give up, he continues to run with a big smile as he crosses the finish line. It’s the times a favorite son comes on in the radio while driving and we all belt out the song together. It’s the moments when I look in my very lived-in house, and think about the children that make it that way.
I could go on and on. I have my fair share of bad days, and some not so great moments… that include days like today, when H threw up in the backseat of my new car on our way to have some Mother’s day fun. But you know what? My kids are always asking for “Mom time, when we can do something just the two of us. And apparently that is more important than having dinner with The Pope. Just thinking about that makes me smile.
I love the chaos I call my life. There is no doubt in my mind that I love being a mother.