Wrapped Up in Embracing Motherhood

I’ve been around children my whole life.  I was the neighborhood babysitter, I’ve been a nanny more than once and I’ve worked at a few daycare centers. 

I am always amazed how different being a parent is for everyone. I feel honored that I’ve been able to witness so many people do it and I’ve really been able to pick and choose the elements that make up my own parenting style. 

I tend to lean towards parenting with a sense of humor. There are days that if I couldn’t laugh at the craziness of it all, it would be overwhelming.  I find that I gravitate towards friends and parents with the same outlook as myself, but there is a type of parent out there that fascinates me, and I refer to them as the “embracers”.

When I worked at a daycare center, I was asked to cover the infant room for a vacationing co-worker. My son was in that room at the time, so I was excited to help out.

After a particularly trying day with a room full of infants, one mom came in to pick up her son. We were talking about being new moms and I was ready to bond over how it was so much tougher than I anticipated when she said to me, “Don’t you just embrace motherhood?”

She went on to describe how she was over the moon for every spit up, cry and sleep deprived night. She was completely sincere about everything she said. I did not get the impression she was saying anything for my benefit or to make her seem like she was the perfect mom.

She was just genuinely happy for every part of parenthood.  I think I mumbled some sort of reply, but her question had me completely baffled.  Am I embracing motherhood? 

The answer was, yes, in my own way I was.  For me, embracing motherhood means that I get to sit and have coffee with other moms and vent about homework and clean rooms and “can you believe that happened?” moments. 

I can get completely wrapped up in the latest challenges that motherhood brings, but as I’ve encountered more of these “embracers” over the years, they are a gentle reminder to take time in my own life to really enjoy being a parent.