Grateful Gatherings: The motherhood journey

The hubby has been feeling rather restless and bored at work over here.  So when an opportunity came for him to do a month-long stint of cutting edge research over at a hospital in Denmark, he was naturally excited.  When he told me about it, I admit I wasn't.  Well, if this had happened a couple of years back when we weren't parents, I would have jumped at the chance to experience Denmark... Exciting right?  Move to a new place, hang around, experience a new culture.

However, all that was running through my head were questions.  Would we be able to rent a place with a kitchen so that I could cook for the kids?  If it was furnished, would that mean baby J would be getting into a lot of trouble crawling everywhere?  A month was rather long... what would we bring along?  What about the kids, the playdates, the disruptions to schedules?  Would Junior J get constipated again because of all the changes?  I'd have to drag books along... bring toys.  How would we fit everything in the car?

I know, I know.  I'm paranoid and inflexible.  But after all that crazy packing and preparation when we moved over to Germany, and all that adjustments we had to make, I was not looking forward to having to pack and make arrangements to move again for a month, especially now that life has settled down a little.  Whatever the case, I guess we'll just have to figure things out, since it looks like it'll probably happen.

Which brings me to the point... once you become a mother, priorities change.  What was once an adventure becomes a huge daunting task, because you have to factor in a hundred other things when you have kids in tow.  Ever since the kids came along, I've become more resistant to changes ("the boy needs to nap!", "if we have guests the boy might get constipated" etc), because changes mean disrupted schedules, and that means missed naps and cranky kids.  I've had less (or no time) for hobbies.  Running 5 km runs are a thing of the past, now I do short sprints to catch up with a 3 year old on his bike, or to grab a baby who is trying to chew on the radiator (and that baby started cruising this weekend, so more short sprints for me I guess!).  After two kids, the mummy tummy is here to stay.  Life has changed in more than these 50 ways.

But I am thankful for some of these changes.  Motherhood has forced me to look at myself more critically, because I have to be a role model for my kids (how can I type on my laptop during breakfast, when I just told Junior J not to play during meals?).  It has torn down any illusions that I have it all together, and can do it all on my own strength (for this, you just need two kids crying at the same time while you scramble to try to cook lunch).  It has made my heart grow bigger, to fit that feeling that wells up in your heart when you see your kids together:

And I have learnt that we don't need to spend loads of money to be happy:

Junior J fascinated with his Iguanadon thumbs
which we made one morning out of some paper and tape.

Being a mom has forced me to slow down, to stop and kiss those little toes... because they will not be tiny very soon.

Motherhood has chased me into the kitchen, and turned me into a cook, when all I could cook previously was instant noodles.

It has made eating ice-cream alot more fun (and each bite more precious), since now I have someone stealing bites from my dessert:

We made blueberry ice-cream the other day!

And it has forced me to be more organized (or I'll never find anything in the diaper bag, which is packed to the brim!).

Above all, having children has helped me to understand what it means to be a child of God, to lean on Him and trust Him more.  (On days when the kids are really sick and are puking and you are washing sheets, you know all you can do is pray for strength!)

So I am thankful for this roller-coaster ride that is the journey of motherhood.  And for the next two weeks (plus another two weeks in September), I'll be featuring other mothers and their stories of how motherhood has changed them.  Do link up tomorrow too if you have a story to share!

What are you thankful for this week?


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