What is Motherhood?
Being a mom. Being a new mom. Being a mom to your partner’s kids. Being a mom with many kids or one kid. Being a mom who adopts kids. There are many different “types” of moms, yet each woman enters into the identity of motherhood that will remain a part of her for life.
Motherhood is defined as “the state of being a mother” (according to https://www.dictionary.com/browse/motherhood). But what does being a mother actually mean? To me, it encompasses the role of caring for your children, juggling calendars/activities, prioritizing their needs above your own (sometimes!) and supporting other humans to grow up into kind, hardworking, loving people. All of this, plus keeping true to your own interests, career aspirations and being yourself. That is hard work!
Often, we hear people comment on how to “balance it all” in motherhood. While I love the concept of balance, we cannot possibly have equal balance in all areas of life. We must recognize that different seasons or stages of life demand some areas to have more priority than others. For example, you cannot possibly be giving equal amount of dedication to your job when you have a 2 month old baby at home. Or when your 11 year old is on a traveling baseball team, you cannot always take your evening self-care bath.
There are seasons throughout life and in motherhood, in which we have to prioritize needs and people differently. The season may not last long or forever, but we may need to accept that other areas of our life might change for the time being.
Motherhood. A huge word that encompasses so many women and so many ideas. What I love about motherhood, is that each woman’s journey and story is unique and beautiful. Even the challenging parts can lead to the most amazing ways toward connections with others. What does motherhood mean to you? I would love to hear! Please email me or reach out to me on social media.
