written by our mom blogger, Deanna Miller
What a great day. There’s nothing quite like being woken up at 6:15 by three smiling faces who are giddy with excitement to show you the breakfast in bed they just made you.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen faces so proud of Cheerios and orange juice. The pile of homemade cards, magnets, flower pots, picture frames and loose leaf cut into hearts warmed my heart. What really made my day though was the kids asking if they could have a bite of my breakfast within three minutes of putting it next to my bed. Within the next five, they managed to have the entire bowl eaten before I had a bite. If that doesn’t demonstrate the selfless and giving nature of a Mom, I don’t know what does.
In many ways this Mother’s Day was a day of reflection for me. Within the last few weeks there have been a number of life changing events that have affected friends and colleagues of mine and for the most part, they have had to do with Mothers and their children.
I’m not talking about small scale stuff here either. This is big stuff. This is stuff like a colleague’s close friend losing her 18 year old son in a car accident. This is stuff like a child in the community where my husband grew up catching a virus and now having permanent disabilities. This is stuff like a good friend losing her Mom to cancer. This is stuff like a woman who works for my company in another province having her life (and that of her husband) taken by their 23 year old son who suffered from mental illness.
That, of course, is just the sad. The really, really sad. In the same few weeks there have been a ton of happy stories – kids getting into universities, kids making sports teams, an amazing Mom I know finishing cancer treatments – the list goes on and on.
I am fully aware that life is always full of ups and downs. I guess I just didn’t realize, until I had kids, how much more intense emotions become after those little pink and blue bundles of joy arrive. I was blessed to have a lot of love in my life growing up and the love I have for my kids is something all-together different. It’s the ‘I’d-die-for-you’ kind of love Bryan Adams talks about. It’s the ‘Your-bad-day-is-my-bad-day’ kind of love. It’s the ‘If-something-is-wrong-I-will-drop-everything-I’m-doing-to-be-with-you’ kind of love.
It’s intense and I feel it right down to my toes. And when I hear of other Moms going through the most difficult times (like above), I feel a reaction inside me for them. I can’t even begin to understand the magnitude of what they’re going through but what I do understand is the all-consuming nature of a Mother’s love.
So even though I did enjoy time with my family and some time by myself on Mother’s Day, I definitely spent a lot of time thinking about all of the emotional ups and downs of motherhood. The worry, the laughs, the pain, the pride, the exhaustion, the nervousness, the excitement – I picture them all being thrown into this huge vat, mixed around and then on the other end of the conveyor belt out pops a Mom.
Mother’s Day ended for me with some texts from a friend on the other side of the country who had just given birth to her third child – a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Our exchange was about how lucky we feel and how we cherish this time and want to focus on being present and in the moment.
No matter what the future may bring, I feel so very blessed to have people to steal my Cheerios.
Deanna is a Mom of three, wife, marketer and blogger – lover of travel, morning coffee, family time, belly laughs, good friends and uninterrupted showers! Follow her on twitter @DeannaCMiller