Turning Point: Being a Mom

I wrote this note to my son for his fourth birthday, and I hereby dedicate it to parents everywhere…. You make me angrier than anyone I’ve ever been angry with. You make my heart melt more than anyone on this earth ever has. My heart is so full of love for you that it scares me… how much more can I love you? Yet when you push all my wrong buttons, I’m a helpless mess of a parent. You don’t hold my hand as often as you did when you were a tiny baby still learning to walk; yet if I am out of your sight for too long, you search for me frantically. It is bittersweet that you’re growing up, and it will always be. On the one hand I feel proud of how slowly and steadily you’re getting more independent each day, and on the other hand it tugs at my heart that you need your parents less and less as time goes. I can already envision you growing up into a rebellious bullheaded teenager, and that scares me. But I also believe that the little loving heart of yours will soften you with time. I can’t ...

 Sometimes I cry because I’m overwhelmed with my duties and tasks as his mother. But he manages to make my heart melt anyway. If he catches me weeping in a weak moment, he rushes to me and gently caresses my cheeks. He doesn’t leave my side and keeps stroking my cheek gently until I smile, which assures him that his Mumma is fine. He is demanding, stubborn, and is asserting his independence more and more each day. But his innocence never fails to make me chuckle. He is my challenge, but he is also the source of my joy. He is the obstacle in my race of accomplishments, but he is the one who has lent meaning to my life. It is due to him that I call myself a ‘proud mother’. He is the reason I was born again. So, is motherhood a day-to-day glorious affair? The answer is- no. Quite the contrary actually. The phase I’m currently in: his “twos”, are so tough. Man, do I want them to be over soon! Though I hate to feel this way, there truly are some days when it all feels like I’m being pu...