How life is about to change........

Kerry

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
898
Reaction score
0
Being A Mum


We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."

"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.

"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her.

I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.

I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?"

That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.

That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die. I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub.

That an urgent call of "Mum!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.

She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right. I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine.

That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.

That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a caesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, and not in the way she thinks.

I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.

"You'll never regret it," I finally say.

Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Please share this with a Mum that you know or all of your girlfriends who may someday be Mums. May you always have in your arms the one who is in your heart.
 
OMG Kerry is it optomistic or not i cant make up my mind the end is nice but the rest is a little worrying, but i guess its too late now!

i dont want my badges of honor stretch marks!!!! :cry: I hadnt thought of all those things though and now i have i'm a bit worried?
 
Believe me hun, as a mother of two already the rest is true!!

I used to be able to watch childrens ward and programmes like that but now there is no way I can watch them as you always imagine what you would do if it was your child etc. I can't even watch the news when peoples children have gone missing or been killed.

Being a Mum is a tough job.............but still the best job in the world!!
 
It did me too - mind you everything is making me cry today, having one of those days. Just cried my eyes out watching George Bests family on BBC1, this time yesterday I didn't have any sympathy!! Pregnancy hormones eh?? :roll:
 
It made me cry too!

Especially that I can already feel most of those things, I have become much more "aware" of what I see on tv, and everything makes me think of our little one!!! My husband says I am oversensitive, which is probably right, but I mean, how could I be otherwise? there is this little life inside me, and I love her soooooooooooo much already!

mel xx
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
473,584
Messages
4,654,686
Members
110,062
Latest member
mzoel1257
Back
Top