Happy Mother's Day one and all! I myself am the very fortunate mother of four great kids! Steven is 16, Justine is 13, Reese is 6 and Rhett is going to be 3 in five short days. I am lucky enough to not only love my children but I really like them too. Some of you are thinking that goes without saying, but I don't think it does.
I've been every kind of mother there is, almost. At least for only being 33. I've been an unwed teen mother, a wed teen mother, a divorced single mother, and now a married mother of four. Quite a gamut if you ask me. Each of those stages of my life had it's ups and downs. Being a teen mother meant that I was judged non-stop by any and all who encountered me. However it also afforded me a beautiful son and the knowledge that no matter what those people thought or said about me or to me, we are more than okay.
Being married the second time I gave birth allowed me respect by hospital staff. The nurses no longer felt the need to treat me like something they found on the bottom of their shoe. That's directed at the Quasi Modo nurse who screamed at me when I was in with Steven. Fucking hunchback bitch. He'll let me know when he's hungry. The kid was nearly 14 1/2 pounds by 2 1/2 months old. Not starving. Anyway, it also gave me the opportunity to be the mommy of a little girl! Yee haw! Dresses and hair-dos. And now a shopping partner, chick movie pal and emotional equivalent of TNT. She never ceases to amaze me though.
Being a single mom was hard, no doubt, but I also didn't have to share them either. Selfish, yes; sorry? No. They were all mine. Sure they went and visited their dad but ultimately they were mine. This didn't necessarily bode well when my now husband came into the mix. He often commented, in the early days, that he felt he was trying to get membership into an exclusive club of three. He was right, in some ways. But we took a vote and in he came.
Then came three and four. This time, not only was I married and was a for real adult! Which meant I was also for real tired! Honest to God, at 27 having a newborn felt like a completed an Iron Man on a daily basis. At 17 and 19, it was tiring but you just naturally have more energy. Plus balancing school and parenting is difficult but full time employment and parenting is beyond that. Doable but hard. I did, of course, have mat leave, but I definitely noticed a difference between parenting as a student and parenting while working a 40 hour week.
Baby #4 was the end of the road for us but I know our family wouldn't have been complete without him. And so now, I'm the married mother of four! Who would've thunk it? Not me. Who regrets it? Not me either. Sure I'd like to live in a clean home. I'd like to have a flat stomach and pert you-know-whats. I'd even like to go on a vacation with my husband. And someday my home will be clean and someday Ryan and I will go on a holiday but I wouldn't trade any of my "babies" for nothing. Unless you're talking a trip replete with childcare right now. I'd trade them for that. And a strawberry margarita.
Tee hee. Just kidding! To all the moms I do know and don't; married, single, one, two or 12 kids, hope you have the day you deserve!
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