We all know it but perhaps don’t talk about it enough… motherhood… it’s tough! My first memories of being a mother were definitely not all the “rainbows” and “love” that I had imagined. My motherhood journey began 13 years ago with a carefully packed hospital bag and detailed birthing plan but turned into an emergency C-section and me feeling devastated and defeated. Little did I know that this was just the beginning.
Thank God for my best friend, Jenny, who lived just a few doors down the street from me. We both began motherhood within a year of one another and spent a lot of time discussing things like breastfeeding, lack of sleep, if our toddler’s long-term memories would include that tantrum that we ourselves just threw, and why no one ever talked about how hard this “gig” was…? While we loved being mamas, it was definitely the toughest job we had ever had and the “rainbows” and “love” that the books made it out to seem, kind of made us feel a bit like losers.
And we realized something extremely important…
We could not do it alone. And that was okay. Because motherhood… it can be excruciating at times. And, it can also be beautiful. But at those times when it’s tough, we need help- a “village.” And by village, I mean that it’s really okay (actually, it’s necessary) to ask for help from friends: to trade off babysitting, to do lots of play dates together in order to make some of those long days more tolerable, to have each other over for dinner, and to vent every now and then to each other on the phone because we’re all pretty much in the same “boat.”
When I remember the days of having babies and preschoolers, I fondly remember sweet cuddles from my littles, lots of unstructured days of time that became filled with play dates, and really good girlfriends to help make those tougher times tolerable.
Enjoy your summer, ya’ll and always remember to build your own village of girlfriends.
Aldersgate Preschool 