If there’s one thing I have learned about motherhood, it’s that it always surprises me.
Sometimes the surprise surfaces in tears when my daughter doesn’t want milk in her fruit loops, or when I make her say goodbye to her super relevant best friend at the PlayPlace whom she met just five minutes prior.
Other times it’s my tears when I’m stumped, wondering how I’m even qualified for this caliber of a job, even though I grew a human inside of me and brought her here.
Or when it’s quarter after four in the afternoon and nap time is a tale told long ago, I’m always shocked that I can make it that next 30 minutes until her dad is through the door without literally blowing the roof off the joint.
I’ve heard that kids say crazy things, but at times it’s more surprising the things that come out of my mouth.
Too often I’ve had to convince my kid the whole world shuts down promptly at 8 pm just so she agrees to get in bed, and I can regain enough energy to do it again tomorrow.
Many preached, “It goes so fast, take it in!” and somehow my jaw still drops that these first years are flying right by.
We all look forward to and adapt to the endless surprises of motherhood no matter what form they arrive in.
No matter how exhausted, lonely, or downright surprising it can feel, a mother somehow always finds the grace and the patience needed to raise her children.
Wallflower Writing 