I’ve come to believe that if there was an actual warning about what parenting and motherhood was really like, I might not have gone for it.
There have been times in the last few years when my teenage daughter has said to me, well, then you shouldn’t have had kids. I know I’m not the only one to hear this from their child, clap backs from teenagers is one of the secrets no one shares until it’s too late.
I suspect if I had known, I would be going it pretty much alone from most of my children’s life, again, I would’ve said no thank you.
Keeping myself, emotionally and financially stable, was hard enough, add two very precocious and boisterous children and there were times when I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it.
I’ve still got a short ways to go, before I even get them out into the world. And motherhood never ends. Just shifts from one type of worry to another, from one type of stress to another, but it never ends. Even when you believe your kids are totally OK, underneath all of the happy family photos posted on social media is a layer of worry and anxiety that has become part of your being. You learn how to carry it, along with everything else required to be a mother, diaper bags, snacks, extra clothes, anxiety, fear, doubt, sippy cups, lunchboxes…
I was told that motherhood would be one of the most rewarding experiences I ever had. And sometimes I wonder if that’s true, or if that’s just an excellent sales pitch for procreation. Like they never really talk about all the bad stuff like they do in pharmaceutical ads now, there’s no announcer rapidly listing off all the reasons why you probably shouldn’t have children, it’s just a beautiful woman with a bouncy baby. Happy as a clam, and then a series of photos that would make any human desire that life.
This is the path that I am on. And truth be told, even with all the days where motherhood has brought me to my knees, I asked myself recently if I could go back and do it all over again, would I still have kids?
The answer is, I would absolutely have my M and my E. I couldn’t imagine a life without them. They are my greatest gift and my greatest challenge and I suppose that’s what motherhood is. It’s a mixed bag, never a dull moment, rarely what you expect, but always what you need.
To all the moms out there, I see you, I hear you and I honor you.
I’ve got some exciting things happening. I have one more spot for my all women mastermind, are you looking to write a book and would love to be held in supportive group of other writers? DM me for details.
If you’d like a short, but powerful writing course to jumpstart your storytelling, or to expand how and what you write, check out my writing video course and workbook.
While doing a book signing for my last collaborative book, the best selling Lessons Learned The Hard Way, I was asked to do a book for men.
And so here we are!
Men’ Work
Rediscovering Masculinity: Healing Old Wounds and paving a new way forward for Men in our modern world.
*Working Title and tag line. *
Much has been written for and by women about transformation and healing.
It’s time for a book written by and for men.
DM me for details on you can become a contributor in in this book!
My daughter said those words to me when she was a tween.. I still have the letter from her and it still makes me cringe when I think about it.
Motherhood is just us trying to be human while teaching another to be human.. though we don't ever see it as that.