First Mother’s Day

My first Mother’s Day is fast approaching. It still amazes me that I have been a Mom for almost a year.  On a flight home the passenger sitting next to me said, “the days are long, but the years are short.”  Luke was almost four months old at the time so I knew a little bit about the days being long, but didn’t and probably still don’t grasp how fast the years truly are.  Luke will be one in less than a month and I can still remember counting down the days to his arrival like it was yesterday.

So what have I learned in my short year of being a Mom?

 

First off, I learned how hard it is.  In general people portray being a Mom as being amazing, which it is, but rarely are you let in on the secret of how hard it will be.  It is a huge life adjustment and after the initial excitement and meals go away.  There you are still living life, a new life that you may not truly be ready for or know what the change means. It is a new life and you can’t ever go back to the way it was before and deep down you are happy about that even if you don’t exactly know why.

 

Another thing I learned was how completely your life will change in ways you just can’t understand until your blessing arrives.  Even thinking now about how life was and how it is now I can’t put the monumental changes into words.  It is more than just not being able to do whatever you want at a moments notice.  It something inside you that changes who you are and who you are becoming.

 

And lastly I learned how much I didn’t know about being a parent.  You can read books and get advice from friends, but until you have your child you don’t know what kind of parent you will be.  I have had a few “ah-ha” moments of understanding in reflection of situations and it amazes me how oblivious I was to how much work being a Mom is.  The light bulb is on, I now understand.

So in closing.  Before Luke I had many titles, Airman…Captain…Professional Engineer. Things I was so proud of and people were even impressed with my many accolades, but those accomplishments were just things that I did with a little bit of hard work.  I now have been let in on the secret of who the true heroes are and their name across the world is Mom!