Mother's Day weekend - Happy Mother's Day

I'm not really in a sappy mood, this post could have been a ton better, but I don't usually blog on the weekends and I wanted to give credit where credit is due. 

There are some really great mothers surrounding me. 

My mom - for not repeating her story.  It wasn't always great, but our family is still talking and we spend every Sunday together.
My mother in law - talk about sacrifice.  Loved you, didn't give you enough credit, love you even more now.
Dale's grandma - Her family still visits her multiple times a week and WANTS to
My friends - every single (female) friend of mine (who has kids) has turned out to be an amazing mother, seriously!  It still amazes me!

The list goes on and on.  I just want to wish all of you mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day.  I hope your day is full of the things you want it to be full of. 

Here is a poem I came across about a year ago from someone else's blog.  I don't remember exactly, but I loved the poem so I am sharing it with you all and a little bit I wrote to a few people when I sent it on.  I hope you enjoy and I hope it takes you back to your yearning to become a mother so you can appreciate every single bit of what it is about.

"I came across this poem that means a lot to me because it speaks to exactly what I have struggled with in the past. Each of you have shared a similar experience and have helped me immensely through the process whether you know it or not. So, maybe this will speak to you as well. I especially love the part about succeeding. I actually could type for hours on what all this means to me, but I have to work sometime today!!! So, as I walk into my house every night to the laughter of my two beautiful boys, I thank God just a little bit for my struggles because I'm not too sure I would have realized just how much that sound really means to me."

Thoughts on Becoming a Mother

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.
(I have to say I don't totally agree with this line, but I didn't write the poem)

I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books,

but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.

I have longed and waited. I have cried and prayed.

I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.

I will notice everything about my child.

I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.

Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love.

I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.

I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body, I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.

I have prevailed.

I have succeeded.

I have won.

So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.

I listen.

And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immerse power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard. I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.

I have learned to appreciate life.

Yes I will be AM a wonderful mother.