Mother's Day reflection (New soul · Yael Naim)

     There is no feeling in the world like the emotions that rush through your body when they tell you are going to be a mother.   You are suddenly in charge of a life.  A life.  A whole life.  There is panic to say the least.  There is gratitude to the heavens.  There is the realization that life will never be the same.  It's not just you anymore...ever. 
     You have to grow up as you grow out.   Books though helpful don't really give you the feeling of confidence you will need.  Sometimes they only make you worry more.  Advice from others...eh, sometimes that gets frustrating.  You hear so many "right" ways that you are left feeling that everything you do will be wrong.  You will be judged if you nurse, don't nurse, use disposable diapers, don't make your own baby food, if you let them cry it out, if you use a family bed, if you drink a glass of wine, any and all things will be scrutinized.  The truth is somewhere amongst the advice, volumes of text and child rearing classes you start to find your own voice.  You start to define your own role as "mother".
     THEN the big day comes.  The one that makes you see more than anything prior to that NOTHING has ever made you feel so brave.  And it is only the beginning.  You turn into the mama lioness protecting her cubs at any and all costs.  You will still worry about the cough that doesn't sound like any other.  You will still panic at the thought of not preparing them for the world and all they will encounter.  A good mom will always put them first. Probably for the rest of their lives.
      There is no bond like it.  There is a moment when they first enter the world that has been merely spinning before them...a moment so profound that the noise becomes silence, your tears rejoice in the gratitude and your heart swells beyond your chest.  It is a moment when you realize this little soul looks up and into you and nothing, no nothing will ever be the same. 
     Moms out there...it doesn't matter if you are the best mom that has ever lived...it just matters to your little one.  For them there is no competition.  Happy Mother's Day.