Motherhood: Nothing Else Compares
Today my family and I visited the Sanctuario de Chimayo. It is a Catholic pilgrimage site, and many healings occurred over the years as the result of prayers and visits to there. By going back to the shrine again, I hoped to grow closer to Jesus.
Sanctuario de Chimayo is one of the few places with a chapel dedicated exclusively to children. They actually have two. As we walked into the first one, I immediately had a thought, "focus more on motherhood." Tears welled up in my eyes.
Right now I have a few out of the home activities going on, but I do feel fairly well balanced between my family and everything else. However, I often catch myself dreaming mostly about things other than motherhood. My oldest is in college and my next two boys are teens. Yet I also have two younger ones ages 6 and 9, so the day when all my kids are grown is 12 years away. Yet having a college aged son (gasp!) makes me feel like I am moving onto the next phase of my life so I need to remember I still have little ones at home. My out of the home activities appear more exciting than doing laundry or playing another round of Candyland with my daughter. I am sure I felt the same while nursing my children for almost 16 years, too. Guess what? I miss those days! When I refocus on all the wonder and innocence of ages 6 and 9, I really enjoy it! I love seeing a picture of Clifford the Big Red Dog at the library or watching a silly movie with my kids about cats kidnapping a dog! I also like the fact that I get to help my almost 16 year old son with his Geometry and have a more adult conversation with him.
Being a mom is tough, and many moms need downtime for music, art, reading, social groups, or any of the myriad of possibilities. I know I do. However, I realized today that I, personally, need to keep in the forefront of my mind how sacred and important motherhood is. The other activities I do are important, of course, but motherhood is in its own special category. Really, nothing else compares.
Sanctuario de Chimayo is one of the few places with a chapel dedicated exclusively to children. They actually have two. As we walked into the first one, I immediately had a thought, "focus more on motherhood." Tears welled up in my eyes.
Right now I have a few out of the home activities going on, but I do feel fairly well balanced between my family and everything else. However, I often catch myself dreaming mostly about things other than motherhood. My oldest is in college and my next two boys are teens. Yet I also have two younger ones ages 6 and 9, so the day when all my kids are grown is 12 years away. Yet having a college aged son (gasp!) makes me feel like I am moving onto the next phase of my life so I need to remember I still have little ones at home. My out of the home activities appear more exciting than doing laundry or playing another round of Candyland with my daughter. I am sure I felt the same while nursing my children for almost 16 years, too. Guess what? I miss those days! When I refocus on all the wonder and innocence of ages 6 and 9, I really enjoy it! I love seeing a picture of Clifford the Big Red Dog at the library or watching a silly movie with my kids about cats kidnapping a dog! I also like the fact that I get to help my almost 16 year old son with his Geometry and have a more adult conversation with him.
Being a mom is tough, and many moms need downtime for music, art, reading, social groups, or any of the myriad of possibilities. I know I do. However, I realized today that I, personally, need to keep in the forefront of my mind how sacred and important motherhood is. The other activities I do are important, of course, but motherhood is in its own special category. Really, nothing else compares.
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