Nobody ever told me...

Just some musings on what no one tells you before parenthood...

Nobody ever told me that parenting is a 24-hour, 7-day a week job or that much of the knowledge I would need is learned "on the job".

Nobody ever told me what hard work and sacrifice it would be to be a mother. (Sure, they mention it in passing, but no one ever REALLY tells you. Probably because we all want the human race to continue! ;) )

Nobody ever told me that children change you forever...physically, mentally and emotionally.

• For instance, whenever a child or baby cries, you immediately look around to see if it is your darling or another's who has been hurt in some way.

• I will never again feel ambivalent about a child feeling hungry, or tired, or scared or hurt, even if they aren't my own.

• I will never again look quite as "cute" as I did when I was in my younger days and frolicking in the latest fashions, but now I always have someone far cuter dangling on my hips (or back or front). :)
  

Nobody ever told me how indescribable it is to feel new life moving within you.

Nobody ever told me that I have the power to impact lives more deeply than any other job in the world.

Nobody ever told me that being a mother is THE most rewarding work around!

Nobody ever told me that there is a type of "falling in love" that occurs without romance.

Nobody ever told me I would not get another full and restful night's sleep until my children are out of the house. But nobody told me that it would feel sooo nice to have many little feet poked in your side (and leg, and belly, and arm) at night while you try to sleep either.

Nobody ever told me that breastfeeding would be HARD work, that it might take time and that there would be countless opportunities when I would probably NOT feel like nursing my child at that moment. But nobody told me that my power and comfort lies in the fact that I alone am capable of being my child's sole source of nourishment and comfort for the first several months of life.

Nobody ever told me that a perfect "Mother's Day" gift would bethree more pairs of hands.

Nobody ever told me that a little cry could pierce my heart so deeply nor how one small giggle can send ripples of laughter through my soul.

Nobody ever told me what FUN it is to watch children dance and sing their way through a day!

Nobody ever told me that on those long, trying days, when I feel lost or worn out or unprepared...there is always a hand (sometimes smaller than my own) to lend help and get me through that moment, or hour, or day. And the open-armed, ring-around-your-neck hug that awaits me when I need it, is sometimes the biggest help of them all.