15 Things I Love About Motherhood

Motherhood is hard.

That’s the sentiment we hear over and over and over again, right? And I would never dispute that statement because of course motherhood is hard. But aren’t we all a teeny bit sick of hearing just how hard it is? Couldn’t we all use just a teeny bit of encouragement that there are still some pretty amazing things to look forward to through our mothering years?

Here’s the thing: motherhood can be downright crappy, (and I do mean that literally because I’ve been a mom four times over now and there’s no end to the amount of bodily “stuff” I have dealt with) but it’s not all doom and gloom. For every hard and terrible moment, there are just as many wonderful ones as well.

I know that I have a tendency to complain about how hard I have it at home with my kiddos. You have no idea what it’s like, I will complain to my husband the second he gets home from work. You have no idea how hard it is to get anything done here.

He will sigh and walk wearily into the house, because it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before. He knows the drill. Cranky mama = a cranky evening and we will slog along until bedtime, when I will collapse with exhaustion. It doesn’t exactly feel like an inspiring or beautiful image of motherhood and it certainly doesn’t mirror all of those Instagram accounts I follow that depict dreamy scenes of motherhood with kids dressed in adorable clothes and moms who always have their hair done with cute accessories to boot.

Honestly, I’m a little tired of the same ol’ disappointing scene myself. Instead of celebrating what moments do exist in my motherhood world, I am constantly feeling bogged down by the hard parts. So I’m here to remind myself — and all of us who may struggle with the less-than-ideal moments, of all of those truly awesome things about motherhood.

I’m talking about:

Chubby baby feet

Toddler feet running through the house

Late night giggling sisters

Little boys with hair sticking up after a hard night of sleep

Arms wrapped around your neck in a sticky hug

Making cookies with tiny helpers

The joy of the simplest holidays

The excitement in their eyes to show you something they’re proud of

Cuddling on the couch watching cartoons

Those rare moments when everyone is happily playing together

The smile that lights up their face when they see you in the morning

The weight of a sleeping baby

Pride in indecipherable scribbles made just for you

Laughing while trying to catch a snowflake

The sweetness of how a hug can fix anything

 

The older I get, the more I realize that motherhood really is lived in the little moments. The little moments, when we take the time to appreciate them and relish them, are the moments that get us through the bigger, difficult moments. A tantruming toddler in the store can be survived if you had a sweet morning of baking cookies together. A baby who didn’t sleep all night can be manageable if you have a hot cup of coffee and a baby napping in her wrap in the morning. A sassy preteen can be dealt with if you’re still the first person he looks for at the end of the day.

You get my drift. There is so much I complain about and dwell on during the average day, but in the grand scheme of things, if we’re making it through the day with relatively full bellies and kids that are safe and warm in our house, we are doing just fine. So instead of venting about the hard moments to our partners (although this is totally necessary sometimes, let’s be clear, just maybe not every day) or escaping to our rooms at the end of the day, let’s just take a moment to think of at least one small motherhood moment that rocked today.

Because there is beauty to be found in the small moments of motherhood — if we only choose to look for them.

What awesome motherhood moment did you have today?