Monday, January 25, 2010

Instinct and Motherhood!

in⋅stinct

–noun

...natural intuitive power

....a natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency.

When I was young I used to be amazed at how a mother could tell among lots of crying kids, which screaming voice belonged to her child? I wondered how she knew the difference from one cry to another? "Oh she's hungry, she has got a full diaper, she is just teething, or she is just tired". I used to think to myself ...how do they know those things?

Well, to be honest with you that INSTINCT that all mothers seem to have is something they mostly learn, after many, many hours of trial and error. I have to say that I can usually even tell  you now when it is my granddaughter that is crying... I am good!  Being a mother for over 26 years helps too. Although as soon as I think I am doing so good at this instinct stuff then I mess up. I was talking to Amy the other day and half way through the conversation this is what I heard "MOM, it's me Lauren!"  I knew that! :) The truth is that those two sound just alike and so I have gotten myself in trouble quite a bit before Lauren headed off to college.

Now I look around my house and see Brad and Lee together, they just had their haircut the same way and so once again my Instinct is being challenged. This motherhood thing is much harder than it looks. So to all you mothers out there, beware...as soon as you start feeling cocky about how good your instincts are...you might mess up! And to all of you mothers out there, who have never had your instincts challenged or be wrong...CONGRATULATIONS! You are amazing!

But seriously the most important thing I think we need to remember about motherhood is to enjoy it, try to live and be present for each moment. It doesn't matter if you can't remember which kid you are sharing the moment with...at least you know it's got to one of them! :) Good night dear friends!


'The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less"  ~ Author Anna Quindlen

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