What Nobody Tells You About Motherhood
It begins with an idea — a stray thought that in years past floated right on by, but that suddenly lands, burrows its seed deep inside your soul, and blooms into a full-blown panicked craving like being held hostage for hours at a Weight Watchers meeting on an empty stomach and are finally released — “I want a baby, and I want one NOW!”
Next comes the negotiations — your body may or may not accept the terms — vaporizing your energy, pulverizing brain cells, disrupting tastebuds, pushing on various buttons of bodily-fluid-release-valves — a revolt. Oh, and as further punishment, you get fat, you get acne, and excessively moody.
All are a body powerplay designed to push you to your limits until you successfully grow another person, and Bam! You’ve got a thankless, needy womb-mate for life!
The day your baby decides to exit you and enter the real world, you experience the worst, most indescribable pain that only a Ph.D. in masochism can explain.
That moment begins with pain and launches you into an alien world of sleepless nights, evaporation of one-on-one time with your significant other, and comes with an endless supply of spit-up, drool, snot, and diarrhea, none of which is yours—a place where me-time becomes we-time from now and forever.
As the agony of childbirth subsides, and you cradle your newborn in your arms, you enter a life where physical pain transforms into an emotional journey of Herculean proportions that would make Netflix envious.
Part sci-fi adventure cobbled together with a sappy love story and heartwarming drama that includes superhero multitasking, with a bit of Improv thrown in.
Your child’s wants and needs become your wants and needs. Their enemies are your enemies, and their accomplishments…well, let’s admit it, are yours.
And then you’re caught in a speed trap, a time warp — life hurdling through space as fast as a blink. Then Bam! You’re almost right back to where you started.
As you sit amidst the mess of parenthood, pondering the profound transformation a kid brings, you find yourself questioning where your identity ends and your child’s identity begins.
You remember when that little person’s hand was so small, it disappeared inside your palm. You remember the constant lack of space and privacy as they want to rub noses with you and that forever watermark of a slobbery kiss left on your cheek. You feel their body heat wrapped against you as they bear hug you — a sensation that never leaves you, like a phantom limb.
You can see, whenever you close your eyes, your little person with your makeup smeared across their face when they want to emulate you, and the Batman cape they wear all year long when they assist you while doing errands. None of this leaves you. You are forever theirs, and they are forever yours. You are imprinted.
Yet, you discover the truest form of love in this beautiful chaos of tragedy, triumph, emotional rollercoasters, and unwavering hope.
This is the sweetest reward of a fully-lived life — A journey of selflessness and devotion that defines you as a mother, with a capital ‘M.’ And you wouldn’t trade for the world!
