Sometimes I feel like in our current fast-paced technology driven society parents are complaining a lot more about how hard it is to raise kids. Do you think that's so? Maybe the way the world is today it is harder, or maybe people just complain more? I don't know...but I know I don't always come across as all positive and having it down, and I sure hope my kids don't see me as ever regretting the choice to become their mother. But I want to be honest because if they have similar feelings to me when they reach this phase of life I want to be able to relate to them and help them feel normal about it and not all in gleeful grandma mode because being a mother is honestly so much harder than I ever imagined! Being a parent is the hardest job I can imagine because:
It's exhausting.
It doesn't ever stop.
You are so emotionally invested.
It most likely isn't anything like what you daydreamed it would be, but you can't just research and retrain like for any other career.
People told you about it, many people, many times but you just didn't understand until you experienced it.
You can never really be prepared for all you will have to do.
Once you get something down - everything changes and each individual child needs you in different ways.
It often feels thankless - like you work so hard and no one really realizes or appreciates just how much you do or how much you care.
You do the most, and the hardest tasks - you ask the slightest thing and they tell you "It isn't fair!"
As a parent - you are like the boss, but you can't fire your employees when they ignore or disrespect you - and you have to be really proactive and ridiculously creative to get what you want out of them.
If you had a bad day with your 'co-workers' you can't just go home to get away from them - you have to put them to bed, and maybe, sometimes, they will let you sleep through the night.
You don't have to just worry about your own health and hygiene anymore (wiping butts and brushing teeth and oh so much more), but your own plus (x-number of children that are probably not cooperative as you try to help them get a handle on theirs).
You can't just leave the house with your little ones without checking to make sure you have everything they might need in a fairly hefty go-to bag before you venture out.
It is easy to feel like sometimes you are losing your identity as you put your spouse's and children's needs before your own time and time again.
You continually question how good a job you are doing, if you're being too hard, or too easy, if that one thing you did will make them hate you forever or screw your child up for life!
Your heart is not your own anymore - and boy can it worry!
Do they know that even though you push them, and grouch at them, and tell them no, or not right now, or suck the fun out of so many dangerous exploits - you love them more than anyone you've ever loved, you're so proud of who they are, and you don't mind making sacrifices when it's all for them?
Despite all the hard things - I wouldn't give up being Lily and Sierra's mom for anything! I was thinking about how becoming a mother your focus becomes raising your kids - some might say mom's lose themselves in that work. It's all about the kids. ...But in reality motherhood...parenthood helps women and men become so much more themselves. It helps you grow and find out more about yourself. It isn't really about how the kids turn out, or just about that. Once you have kids you realize they are going to grow up with or without you, and they learn so much without you even really trying to teach them. (You can even be the best mom on the planet and your kid might choose to do everything contrary to what you taught because everyone is an individual with a right to free agency). Being a mother has taught me so much more than I have probably taught my children. Everyday it teaches me valuable lessons about patience, how to treat people, setting priorities, letting things go, expressing love... Much more important stuff than any job I could hold or any artwork, or nifty little nothing I could ever create. It is in serving others not seeking after our own pursuits that we become who our Heavenly Father really wants us to be. Matthew 16:25 It isn't easy - it's super, super hard, and I am far from that end goal ultimate me, but I believe my children are helping me get closer to it. Helping me become a better, less selfish person. And what could be more important than them? I'm so grateful for the sweet people that they are, and that I'm lucky enough to go through life calling them my family! Motherhood may seem like an unpaid job, but it has some pretty sweet bonuses :)
Children bring so much joy and really do make life so much better - celebrating their firsts and accomplishments, making you laugh right in the middle of a serious bad mood... Constantly reminding us to give to balance our lives (as we try to help balance theirs) and make time for fun! Showing us that little things can be really important. That we should love everyone, even if they've made poor choices (like you can't help loving your kids). That a lot of behaviors need to be taught, and we need to teach and be teachable, because we can still learn how to behave better even in our advancing years ;) I could go on and on, but I already have - instead I will just say - I love my kids more than I can ever say, and I can't imagine any job I would rather have than this one!
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