Most of us become mothers at some point in life. Some don’t. But I did choose to be a mother never realizing what the job entailed. There was an innate desire and I am embraced it not knowing anything about “the job.” No one teaches us how to be a mother, perhaps in our mind we look back to how our own mothers behaved and then do the best we can.
I loved the infancy stage. That total dependency that the infant child has on the mother. This was favorite time. Then the infant grew and the vocabulary exploded and I clearly recall my jaw hurting at the end of the day from reciprocally talking back and forth back and forth. The amazement of how their brains developed and integrated information was literally mind blowing. Maybe this was my favorite stage.
Being the mother of a school-aged child was exciting. This stage was easy too. I loved volunteering at school. I was always amazed at how quickly the year flowed by marked by the yearly rituals of school plays, religious celebrations, birthday and summer traveling. This for sure was my favorite time.
Then came the teenage years. Intense conversations, growth for me as an individual, as I faced our own memories and reconcile my own life and watched my own children experience similar situations and help them make life changing decisions. They were almost adult but not quite. They loved us and we knew but they also had to separate and live their own lives. At last, all the efforts, the talking and the hugs culminate into young adults that have learned to reason, make mistakes and still survive without throwing tantrums. Definitely, this was my favorite stage.
Now my children are young adults and my time has opened up. There is more time to reflect, to reminisce and re-acquaint myself again with my spouse. All those photos are finally being organized and my garage never looked so tidy. My children are in the world make their own choices, charting their own course and being accountable for their own successes and yes, mistakes too. They call regularly, and say “I love you” first instead of “I love you too.“ Perhaps, after all is said and done, this IS my favorite stage of motherhood.
