Enjoy, cherish and remember motherhood

Well, there's no such thing as failure in motherhood...in my books, anyway. And besides, by whose yardstick are we measuring failure and success by, anyway? Motherhood is to be cherished, to be enjoyed and to be relished and remembered for the rest of our lives. It amazes me how some people think that motherhood is something that is to be endured. No, not to me...and I am sure motherhood is not like to that many other mothers out there either. Sometimes, mothers are allowed to FEEL like failures We're only human beings, right? And mothers are human, therefore, we have our strong and weak points. Some of us are better at cooking than others. Some of us are better at earning money than others. Some of us are better at....say, diapering our kids than others. Therefore, being weak in one aspect of motherhood does not make a failure. I cook bad...and I mean, BAD. But I know I am patient in a lot of ways too. But I am not as patient as I would like to be - so, does THAT make me failure as a mother? Gee, I hope not. Why motherhood is to be cherished and remembered? A mother once told me that she lived each day raising her kids knowing that one fine day, they'll be old enough to look after themselves and she would be free. Although I was happy that she was doing her best for her kids at that point in time, it occurred to me that she was merely enduring her motherhood days. We're mothers forever, not only when our kids need us. God didn't make mothers to be that way. Regardless of whether our kids need us to diaper or feed them or not, they remain our kids for the rest of their lives....and ours. And it's because our kids won't need us forever that we should cherish our days as mothers! I live each day reminding myself that one day my kids are going to think I am dowdy and uncool. Right now, they think I am the funniest person on the planet. but not for long. Mothers do not own their kids. They borrow the kids from God It's true. While motherhood is forever, mothering is not. Therefore, we do not own our kids forever. We may stake a claim when they're young and need us as infants, but when they're old enough, they will live their own lives and go on their own adventures. They will make their own decisions and pay their own bills (hopefully). We don't own our kids - if yes, only temporarily. We borrow them for a little while and nurture them. That's our responsibility, our job. And once they are old enough to decide for themselves and live on their own - we let them go. Motherhood, as I mentioned earlier, is to be enjoyed, cherished and remembered. Because one day, we can have our lives back....and they will have their own. And all we have is the stacks of photos to remind us of the joy what motherhood has been. 2006