That’s When You Become a Mom

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We tend to believe that the magic of motherhood is in the big moments, like the first time the nurse puts your sweet newborn baby on your chest, or with his first steps, or when you watch her walk across stage and get her diploma. And for some lucky moms, it is. However, for some of us, the magic lies in the mundane, in the everyday struggle. Our magic and strength comes from when we’re exhausted and beat down, but we just keep going, keep surviving, keep loving. And, that’s when you become a mom.

The real power of motherhood is just continuing on, continuing on every single day, after the emotions of those big moments fade away. Just doing and being and existing. 

become a mom

When your sweet newborn is inconsolable and crying nonstop. Nothing is helping. So you hold her and just rock her and rock her and rock her, hour after hour, throughout the day and into the night. Tears fall from your own blurry and bloodshot eyes, but you keep rocking, singing the same lullaby over and over. That’s when you become a mom.

When it’s the first time she’s really sick and you’re sitting in the emergency room, watching one nurse hold her down and another place a catheter, and tears are streaming down her sweet little cherry-red face. You want to hold her and make them stop hurting her, but instead, you stroke the top of her head, tell her how brave she is, and sing softly to her while holding back your own tears. That’s when you become a mom. 

When your toddler with larger-than-life emotions won’t eat anything but strawberries for an entire week, and you’re exhausted and tired and frustrated and concerned about how many calories she’s getting (or not getting), but you keep making her meals and watching her throw everything on the floor, screaming. You clean it up, sigh, and try again next meal. That’s when you become a mom. 

When your child gets left out by friends for the first time and doesn’t get invited to that birthday party. You’re angry at how mean and cold kids can be, but instead of showing your anger, you just tell him sometimes people treat others poorly, but that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with him. And so instead of calling the other kid’s parents and giving them a piece of your mind, you take him out to see that new movie he’s been wanting to see and try to keep him distracted with laughter and pizza and love. That’s when you become a mom.

When your teenager really breaks the rules for the first time, like really breaks them -missing curfew, sneaking out, and getting caught doing something she knows is so wrong. She’s mad and yelling and crying, and you have to balance your own red-hot anger and yelling with compassionate discipline and forgiveness. That’s when you become mom. 

No one really prepares us for any part of motherhood, let alone the tiresome everyday challenges. But let’s not forgot who we are and how strong we are. The big moments are, of course, extraordinary, and they, therefore, elicit big emotions. But there is a quiet, still phenomenon that happens with the impossible moments. That’s when we, as mothers, are really tested, when our motherhood really comes into its own. That’s when you become a mom.