Motherhood is beautiful and messy and everything in between.
When my oldest son was 3, his preschool teacher worked with each student to create a book they would present to their moms on Mother’s Day. On one page, my son was asked to share what his mom does all day. His answer? “She watches ‘Reba’ and takes showers.”
At the time, I was a stay-at-home mom to this highly observant kid and his 1-year-old brother. My days were spent wiping noses, rear ends and tears (sometimes my own), wrangling toddlers on outings to the zoo and children’s museum, playing referee, sparking impromptu living room dance parties, hiding pureed cauliflower in mashed potatoes and volunteering at preschool. Occasionally, I would turn on reruns of the sitcom “Reba” (or “The Golden Girls”) for a little comedic relief and, quite honestly, to hear another adult voice. And, yes, sometimes I would shower.
When I saw my son’s answer, I thought, “Is that really all he sees?”
Motherhood can be like that. There are select actions the world sees, but there is so much more going on behind the scenes — so many thoughts and worries, so many appointments to remember and milestones to monitor, so many sleepless nights and so much unconditional love poured into every single day of our children’s lives.
Motherhood is beautiful and rewarding. It is also messy and complicated. There are times when it is easy to feel alone and unappreciated or, in this age of social media, to feel like everyone else has it all figured out (spoiler alert: they don’t).
It’s been 20 years and the “Reba incident” still makes our family laugh out loud. I have always known just how much my boys love and appreciate me. Now that they are both living in Orlando and navigating the intricacies of life on their own, it has become clear just how much they truly did see in all those years we spent at home together.
This Mother’s Day, I hope all the moms out there feel every ounce of love and appreciation they deserve and that they spend the day doing the things they enjoy most. Even if that means watching “Reba” and taking a shower.