The Joys of Motherhood

Being a Mom has to be one of the toughest, but also one of the most rewarding jobs. It is a job for life. Even when your children have long flown the nest, your job as a mother will still continue. Monetary rewards are scarce. There is no overtime pay, performance bonus or pension contributions. However, the joy of being there to bring up your children and join them on their journey far outweighs any financial rewards.

The journey starts when you are pregnant. We experience the tiredness, the sickness, and the physical changes to our body which a new baby brings. We learn to live with these symptoms and adjust accordingly. We now carry crackers in our handbag in case hunger (or sickness!) strike and become used to the small leakage which occurs every time we sneeze! Our bellies swell and we constantly take pictures at every stage so we can remind ourselves we once looked like we swallowed a watermelon. However, all these temporary inconveniences which have occurred over the past 9 months are soon forgotten the moment we hold our new baby in our arms for the very first time. The pain of child birth suddenly melts away as you stare in awe at the new member of your family. Your partner and you look at each other both with a sense of pride and disbelief knowing you created this beautiful new baby. Fear and terror also strike. You now have to be responsible and care for your baby. You have boug! ht numerous parenting books, but in reality things seem quite different.

You bring your baby home and for the first 2 weeks things are blissfully happy. Your partner is at home, you are in the honeymoon period and relishing your role as a new Mom. You have been inundated with visitors, all cooing over your new baby and praising you how well you are doing. The joy of being a Mom is great. Suddenly, and you think rather abruptly the honeymoon period comes to an end. Your partner goes back to work, visitors become fewer and it is just you and your baby. Some days are great and motherhood is blissful. You meet up with other Moms, discuss how you are feeling and your baby behaves like a dream. You pat yourself on the back complimenting yourself on a job well done. Other days are not so good. You are stressed, tired and lonely and your baby seems to be constantly crying. You feel like throwing in the towel. You don't of course and live to fight another day.

As a mother we continually experience the full spectrum of emotions when it comes to raising our children. We grow and develop into our role and our children through their behaviour challenge us to learn more about ourselves and our role as their Mom. The unconditional love, the innocence, the curiosity and the joy they have for life makes being a Mom the best job in the world.