Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Raising a child is like planting a seed and watching it grow into a beautiful flower. Lisa Wingate

It’s been a family weekend. Our daughter attended a bachelorette party, and we looked after our six-month-old breastfed granddaughter. With a good supply of breast milk, bottles, and a hungry baby, we had a wonderful time. She slept like a baby, getting up every few hours to feed, and I felt like I was managing okay, but it was hard to get up this morning.

Raising children is a big job, and we forget how big it was when it is behind us. Motherhood is romanticized; it is a lot of work, but it is one of the most fulfilling roles we get in life. I’m sure it is romanticized because we become so much more when we become mothers than when our only concern was our interests. So much of life is taken up with caring, feeding, and providing for children that we lose connection with people who aren’t parents or want to be parents.

Motherhood is not the power-wielding career some women crave, but when it was said, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” It wasn’t said in jest; the families we are born into color our view of the world, the possibilities we see for our lives, and the dreams for our future.

Fathers and mothers have dreams for their children; they mold and shape them in the early years. Some children rebel, some attain a parent’s dream without realizing their own, some have so many choices but never choose a direction. Sometimes, going with the flow puts people on paths they didn’t know they could choose.

Life works in mysterious ways, and we never know if things we think are bad will work out for good, or things we think are good will end up bad. We have to have faith to deal with what shows up in our lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need not be too harsh with those who need a helping hand because some day we or someone we love may need one.

I wrestle with what help looks like, when we elevate, and when we enable. Are we building a strong, resilient society, or a society that only works for a lucky few?

Life isn’t fair, it will never be fair, and maybe part of what we need to embrace is who we are with our gifts, vulnerabilities, and potential. I wonder if we spend so much time wishing we had other gifts, we don’t use the potential we do have. Are we like roses wishing we were dahlias, or rabbits who would rather be the hawk?

The most precious jewels you’ll ever have around your neck are the arms of your children. Cardinal Mermillod

I think of Mom and Dad, who didn’t have the benefits society offered many, because their parents moved north to homesteads in a new area where schools would eventually be built. Dad often said, “You got a good education.” Looking back at the opportunities available, I wonder why I didn’t do more with what was offered.

We sat around the table last night, and my husband mentioned a detached house we looked at years ago for $110,000.00. We thought Wow, how could we afford that? A few years later, we bought a condo and paid much more. Does anyone make all the right decisions? When we look back on our lives, we had opportunities and choices; we took one road, but we will never know where the other road might have taken us.

How many people look back over their lives and think they should have made different choices? Should I have married him or her? Should we have had more children and started sooner or later? Should we have started a business, or stayed with the good job that would have given us a pension?

Life is about choices, and our choices make us. We become parents, or we don’t, and sometimes it’s a choice, but other times circumstance. Our big goal may elude us, or when we get it feels like an empty victory. We may reach the pinnacle of success in one area of our lives, but fail in others.

If we go forward with a good attitude and gratitude for what we have, and teach our children to be grateful for what they have, as they look for opportunities to contribute to society. I think we’ve succeeded as parents.

As Mother’s Day approaches, many of us give thanks for a mother we can no longer talk to. We hold her memory in our hearts; we appreciate what she taught us, her endless love and support. Even if we didn’t feel endlessly supported and loved, she gave us life and the opportunity to grow and develop into who we are and make the best of this life. If we haven’t made the best of it yet, there might be time to make some choices and make the best of what is still to come.

A salute to mothers who did the best they could. We might not understand the challenges they faced, the choices they felt compelled to make, or the sacrifices made so we would benefit.

Thanks, Mom, for all you were, and all you did.

Parenting is the easiest thing in the world to have an opinion about, but the hardest thing in the world to do. Matt Walsh

The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example. Drew Barrymore

The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family. Mother Teresa

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and return to read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.

To subscribe, comment, and see archives or categories of posts, click on the picture and scroll to the end.

Thank you for reading my books, and a special thank you to those who leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon. If you click on the Amazon link and purchase an item, I receive a small percentage of the sale through the Amazon affiliate program.