When my mother came to care for me after labor, she wouldn’t stop giving unsolicited motherly advice. She made sure to tell me what her mother told her, that “a mother’s job never ends, she eats when she’s no longer hungry, she sleeps when she’s no longer sleepy… a mother’s life is one of patience and sacrifice.” I heard as I rolled my eyes during my first week of recovery, refusing to let go of my life as I knew it and crying in the shower with hormonal disappointment, confusion and fear. Why would anyone do this I wondered? Why give up your life. I even wrote about my struggles trying to get sleep while my baby was awake. Insanity. And suddenly it hit me. I stopped needing so much sleep to function. I started forgetting to take my sleepers off when going to the market… and laughing about it. I started accepting all the help I could get because those showers are precious and I began loving every minute of motherhood.
Now, as I finish the cold dinner I started to eat two hours ago, I think of my mother and how characteristically right she was. I sit here with a cold bite and a warm heart. Happy mother’s day to all you moms. I am blessed with a great mom and am thankful for the privilege of calling myself one.
