10 Things I Learned by Being a Mother

10 Things I Learned by Being a Mother

1.    Getting pooped on, throw up on and bled on is not that big a deal.

2.    Stuff will get stained.  Stuff will get broken.  Stuff will get ruined.  It’s just stuff.

3.    I am stronger than I thought I was.

4.    I am not as smart as I thought I was.

5.    Planning is good.  The ability to let go of plans is also good.

6.    No is a very loving word.  Refusing is a very loving act.

7.    Letting go is easy to say but hard to do.

8.    We don’t stop being parents when they turn 18, but we stop parenting in the traditional sense.  There are no books on how to do that.

9.    Although a part of me, my children are not an extension of me.  I cannot claim their successes as my own, neither should I be angry over their failures as reflecting on me.

10. Sometimes what is best involves pain and discomfort.  I understand a little better why God doesn’t instantly clear up every difficult, painful, uncomfortable circumstance.  I learned this by being a mother.