I received this in email today, and thought you all would appreciate it!

Warning could cause tears....

Being A Mom

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually
mentions that
she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."
"We're taking a
survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have
a baby?"

"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my
tone neutral.

"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no
more spontaneous
vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter
, trying to
decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will
never learn in
childbirth classes.

I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child
bearing will heal,
but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional
wound so raw that
she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her
t hat she will never
again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had
been MY child?"
That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.
That when she
sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if
anything could be
worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit
and think that no
matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will
reduce her to the
primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an
urgent call of
"Mom!"
will cause her to drop a souffl� or her best crystal
without a moments
hesitation.

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many
years she has
invested in her career, she will be professionally
derailed by motherhood.
She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be
going into an
important business meeting and she will think of her
baby's sweet
smell.She will have to use every ounce of discipline to
keep from running
home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will
no longer be
routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the
men's room rather
than the women's at McDonald's will become a major
dilemma. That right
there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming
children, issues of
independence and gender identity will be weighed against
the prospect that
a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will
second-guess herself
constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter,
I want to
assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of
pregnancy, but she
will never feel the same about herself. That he r life, now
so important,
will be of less value to her once she has a child. That
she would give
herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will
also begin to hope
for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to
watch her child
accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch
marks will become
badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her
husband will change,
and not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand
how much more
you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or
who never
hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know
that she will
fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find
very
unromantic. I wish my daughter could sense the bond she
will feel with
women throughout history who have tried to stop war,
prejudice and drunk
driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of
seeing your child
learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly
laugh of a baby
who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first
time. I want
her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears
have formed in my
eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I
reached across the
table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent
prayer for her,
and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble
their way into
this most wonderful of callings.

Please share this with a Mom that you know or all of your
girlfriends who
may someday be Moms. May you always have in your arms the
one who is in your heart.

That was beautiful. I loved it and will now be forwarding it to my mother. Thanks for sharing.

Yup, sent that one to my big sister. Thanks Tink.

Thanks Tink. I forwarded that one too.
One more thing to remind me why I keep fighting. Thank You for sharing!

That was sweet. Thanks for sharing. So true!

Thanks for sharing. It's so true.

You're all very welcome. I fwded it to coworkers, and we were all crying in our little cubicles. Ha ha ha.

quote:

Originally posted by TinkerbellNC:
[qb] I received this in email today, and thought you all would appreciate it!

Warning could cause tears....

Being A Mom

That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope
for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

Please share this with a Mom that you know or all of your girlfriends who may someday be Moms.

May you always have in your arms the
one who is in your heart. [/qb]

The entire passage was beautiful, but I this part in particular hits home. I have an illness that may prevent me from seeing my son into his child bearing years. I have hope though. Thanks for posting this.

Malnme,
I think what you wrote brought the majority of tears to my eyes.
I will say a prayer for you.

What you have wrote is what i've been trying to explain to people on how being a mom changes your life in so many ways..People who dont have children cant understand me completely, So im going to print, "Being a Mom" out and share, it makes you really see it from a different view, thankyou!!

thanks for sharing, i always knew my life would change but never could i have ever imagined what it would feel like in my heart, to look at her when she is sleeping. or to hear her coo's. or to see her cry. my whole life has changed, and i would never ever go back to how it was without her.

quote:

Originally posted by pookerpics:
[qb] Malnme,
I think what you wrote brought the majority of tears to my eyes.
I will say a prayer for you. [/qb]

Thankx P, a little prayer goes a long way.
Of all the things I'm proud of, being a mom is #1.