Mom Blogs – Sharing the Universal Experience

I was recently introduced to the Wheels on the Bus blog written by a BirminghamMom and I am struck by how much we all share the universal experiences of motherhood.  The wonder of a tiny new person, the gravity of responsibility, and the redefining of Self are recurrent themes, the same and yet completely different for every Mom.

Like anyone on the verge of becoming a parent, I was offered loads of advice, some of it solicited and some not.  These three insights stuck with me and I am passing them on:

“So many life events can be anti-climatic.  You hear about them for years, then you experience them firsthand - first kiss, prom, a perfect wedding day – and maybe they’re memorable but not like you imagined.  Becoming a parent is the one event that lives up to its billing” – work colleague with three children

“After you have children, your relationship with your own mother changes.  You view her from a different perspective and, even if your generations approach motherhood in completely different ways, you share a new kind of common bond” -  former work colleague expecting her second child, on her practice of speaking with her mom every day since the birth of her first child

“It’s like a mother’s secret, how much you love your children.  You never even know you have such capacity until they arrive.  And there isn’t any less for the next children; you just find new space you never knew you were missing” – former high school classmate and mother of three, on seeing me pregnant the first time