One Month.

It's a month today since I became a mother of three. A mother of three. Just typing that makes my eyes well up. Can I chalk it up to hormones? Because, honestly, I don't know why I'm teary about it. Going from a mother of none to a mother of one was definitely special. Going from a mother of one to a mother of two seemed par for the course. But becoming a mother of three? I'm really in this now.
And I suppose I feel I've learned a thing or two about being someone's mother but how much could I have learned in five years when really, I'm learning more and more everyday. And not even about being a mother but about who I am.

Here's a recent revelation I had: I really suck at mediating disputes and coming up with getting-along ideas. It's not surprising, though, if you know me. I tend to shy away from confrontation and let other people deal with the mess. If it's a battle I feel is worth fighting, I'll make a weak attempt at engagement but otherwise, the drama is not for me. So, most of the time, I let the kids handle it. The rest of the time, I fumble around for a response that'll make every kid happy... which is mostly impossible, as we parents know.  That, or I let my sister Kate handle it. *ahem*

But I know there are other things that I'm good at, so I try not to dwell too much on my shortcomings. But if you ask me what I'm good at, I'll draw a blank. I mean, I must be doing something right because my children are generally delightful little people with good hearts, normal kid behavior nonwithstanding. I don't worry at all that I'm screwing this up, though I do wonder if I can do it better.

{I had to stop working on this to tend to various household chores and living creatures. During that time, I remembered one thing that I do well: answering my kids' "Why" questions, even if I sometimes have to pull the answer out of my ass.}

When I first became a mother, I really struggled with feeling wistful about my life pre-children, and pre-marriage, even. I always felt a mild urge to go back to work, even though I know myself well enough to know that I can't balance a career like teaching with the demands of motherhood. I mean, I could do it but everything would be done half-assed and I'd be a miserable person. That feeling has lessened somewhat since Stella's birth and now, with Micah, I have fully accepted that I won't be going back to work full-time until I'm nearly 40.  It feels like a long way off but I know better now how fast the time goes. Almost 5 years at home with Alice, and it has gone by so fast, in retrospect.

I've learned to be present. I'm not always good at it but I make an effort to try. The moments where I feel most frustrated and impatient are the moments where I think ahead too fast or expect too much of myself and the kids. Stay present. Stay present. It's really the key, I think, to being the mother of any number of kids without losing your sanity.

So, one month down. A lifetime of months to go. It'll be easy. It'll be hard. It'll be somewhere in between. I'm taking it day by day,  learning my lessons as I go.