What Motherhood Means To Mean

Mama Kat over at Mama's Losin' It, has given another writing prompt. I chose "What Motherhood Means to You"

When I was 19, I was never going to have children. However, on the very OFF chance that I did, I was not going to stay at home, no sir. That would be my husband's job. I would be the bread winner of the family. What? I was 19. Growing up the thought of having children never actually occurred to me. I was too busy climbing trees, roller skating and riding my bike to worry about all that junk. Then I got married. I certainly wasn't planning on that anytime soon either. I was working. Having kids wasn't foremost in my mind. We had friends in our ward that were married couples our age. I think maybe one couple at the time had a baby. Then pretty soon the next couple got pregnant.

For the first time, I felt something I hadn't before. I felt a desire towards having a baby. It may have been the novelty of being pregnant. Let's face it, you get a lot of attention in those nine months. Something happens to people when they see a pregnant woman. It's an amazing process. When I finally decided to jump on the baby band wagon, I had sugary visions of what life would be like. Of course I wouldn't work. That was a given. The baby would be a chubby cherub sent from heaven above. She would coo and a smile. We would go for walks and she would kick her feet happily.

On September 23, 1997 I had the first of many major reality checks. First one was that she was not at all a chubby pink cherub. More like a long, skinny, wrinkly, squawking "baby." And that baby was colicky!

So what does motherhood mean to me? It means everything you think it is. It means joy, walks in the parks, and fun games with happy faces. It also means sorrow, temper tantrums, time of illness and hurt feelings. It means hugs and kisses. It means wiping snotty noses and dirty fannies. It is the toughest job there is. It can be matched by no other. What does motherhood mean to me? It means the world to me. It means the world to me because my children do. And without my children I would not be a mother.