Recently I have been working hard at my diploma. Whilst Chris was off, in between the lovely things that we did together, I managed to utilise the time (and more importantly the freedom from domesticity) to really get stuck into some work. Today I was trying to put the finishing touches to an assignment....until my 'baby' came home! She is a cuddle-a-holic at the best of times! But today, after her usual I'm-home-from-school-cuddle she batted her eyelashes and begged for "something nice to eat that we don't have in the kitchen"! So I saved my work and headed off to the Co-op. Once I was back she wanted the loft space/study to herself and washing up was calling to me.
After a brief flirtation with my laptop it was time to prepare a meal....and that set me thinking about what it means to be a mum, to put your children's needs above your own, always, no questions asked. Even when those children are blossoming young adults, on some crucial level they will always be my baby's...
I have always loved children, enjoyed spending time with them...I made it my career after all. But nothing prepared me for being a mum! When I held my baby daughter in my arms, when I nursed her at my breast, when I gazed at her instead of sleeping....that was when I knew...this is what I was here to do. I embraced motherhood like nothing else in my life before or since, those baby's were and still are my reason for being.
Being a mum is the best job in the world.
Even now with the children ever growing, developing, changing-whilst-remaining-the-same, the challenges and rewards are different. Mostly I am in awe at the people they have grown to be....occasionally I am frustrated that they still make as much mess as they ever did, but hey dear hubby is still guilty on that charge and the last time I looked he was a fully grown man!
So when I (finally) post off this assignment for marking I shall reflect for a moment, and pat myself on the back...fitting in an diploma around a family is no mean feat!
And the next time I venture, cursing, into a mess covered bedroom or face a mountain of washing up or I am awoken at 4am by my son rolling in from a night on the town I will pause a moment in my frustration and remember how blessed I am that three very special people chose me to be their mum...giving me the chance to realise my potential as a human being...
