I am a mom

Mother’s Day is tomorrow and it has me thinking about one of the most important titles I will ever have – mom.   What a small, simple word to sum up a job that is neither small nor simple. 

Mom – in the 8 years I have held the position, I have never experienced so much joy, laughter, love, pain and frustration.   I can remember the first time my oldest son said “ma-ma”.  I remember jumping up and running to him so excited to finally hear him acknowledge me as his mom.  You can imagine my dismay over the next 8 months to hear him call every female he came in contact with ma-ma.   I would hear him say ma-ma and think: What?! ma-ma, she is not the one who carried you for 38 weeks.  She is not the one who suffered through postpartum depression exuberated by the fact that for some reason she could not produce enough milk to breastfeed you.  Nor is she the one who finds out later that she couldn’t produce milk because she was suffering from Graves’s disease which was brought on by her pregnancy with you.  Boy, do you not know how much I worked already to earn that title, just to hear you bestow it on random females…

Fortunately for me although those random females may not have suffered through the things I did, they also did not reap the rewards I have.  They are not the ones who get the unexpected hugs or “mommy, I love you”s.  They are not the ones who open the bedroom door in the middle of the night and are overwhelmed with a sense of peace as they watch my children sleep.  They are not the ones that get to watch my children grow and marvel at their uniqueness and individual personalities.  Nor are they the ones who get to laugh at the funny things my children say and do.

As this mother’s day approaches, I am so grateful to hold the title of mom.  Although the job is neither small nor simple, there is no other job on this earth I would prefer to have.