Those Special Moments Moms Live For

 

My 4-year-old son half woke up this morning at about 4 am and said clearly as if he was completely awake,

“Do you know what I love about you Mom?… Everything.”

And then he snuggled up close to me and went back to sleep. It was the sweetest thing.

My husband says this to me and both our children often so I know exactly who taught our son this wonderful saying. But I thought it was their thing, this is the first time our little boy has bestowed this great honour on me.

I woke up an hour later thinking, “These are the Moments Mom’s live for” and that’s what inspired this post.

Moments Moms Live For

There have been so many precious, beautiful moments since I became a Mom.  Far too many to recall and recount, though I wish I had one of those genius memories that could call up every single of one of them at will.

Some of the moments Mom’s Live for are Universal, aren’t they?

Giving Birth

Giving birth is one of those moments you both dread and look forward to at the same time.  Especially the first time you ever give birth and you have no idea what to expect.  You are so scared, so nervous of the birthing process and yet you cannot wait.  And then the moment comes and it’s even more awful, more painful, more exhausting than you ever could have imagined and yet at the same time it is the most beautiful, awesome, empowering moment you have ever experienced. And filled with such love.

I remember the immense love I felt for my husband right in the middle of my birth experience (which was made, I believe, infinitely more intense by the fact that I had been induced).  If felt like there were no moments between contractions.  Except for one moment, that moment when I was just about to give up, when my husband’s face came into view and he said, “You can’t give up now, you’re nearly there.”  Or something like that, the words weren’t important at all. It was the fact that we were doing this together, we were bringing this baby into the world together. I wasn’t alone, he was right there with me.

And this for me was one of the moments I live for as a Mom.  This crazy, scary, off the Richter scale if there was a Richter scale for pain, the moment when we brought my little boy into the world. Did I ever mention that my hubby pulled my baby out?  He did.  What a moment.

So although every Mom’s birth experience is completely unique, at some point during labour or right after when we get to hold our precious little one close for the first time, or if we’re lucky enough, get to nurse him, we feel a love for our husband, our child, our union as a family that is off the charts.  A love that knows no bounds. A love that stretches across the whole globe and encompasses all humanity and then comes right back into the room, to our little family unit. To envelop this newcomer in unconditional, universal love.

This is a Moment Moms Live For.

Nursing

And though we’re exhausted and depleted after our birth experience, somehow we’re also on high alert, waiting for the moment when our little spawn will want to suckle.  I understand not everyone gets to experience the joy of nursing, but every Mom gets to experience the magic of nourishing their newborn one way or another – whether they are lovingly warming up a bottle for them in the middle of the night or pulling them close to nurse.

Knowing our child needs us for both their survival and comfort, is another Moment Moms Live For.

Their Firsts

And then as our babies start to develop, we live for their first smile, their first gurgle, the first time they sit, crawl and then their amazing first steps which look more like teetering.  Their first words start coming and we are in awe of them.

These are Moments Moms Live For.

I Love You, Mom

And then comes that special day when your child looks deeply into your eyes and says, “I love you”.

This is a Moment Mom’s Live For.  And you hope, you pray, that when they are 21 they will still be looking at you this way, with so much genuine love and adoration and saying these words.

And there are so many other cute and wonderful things children say to us as they get older. I remember a good friend remarking how her son who was 5-years-old at the time would say how beautiful she is.

These are Moment’s Mom’s Live For.

This is for You Mom

The same friend said that her son also picks flowers and gives them to her, almost every day.  My son has done that too from time and time and he often wants to buy me a bunch of flowers when he says them in the grocery store.   Such a sweet thought.

I also find it amazing when he makes me something special and brings it to me.  A Lego car or a play dough pancake.  His favourite toy. When he shares his chocolate with me.

When he comes up to give me a huge hug, just because.

These are moments Moms’s Live For.

I Appreciate You

I’m just as touched when my gorgeous bonus daughter (who’s nearly 14-years-old)  bakes a cake for me, gluten free so I can enjoy it guilt-free. Or offers to lend me one of her T-shirts (because we’re about the same size these days, in fact, she might be slightly taller than me now).

When she Thanks me for making her Dad so happy.

When she surprises me or her little brother a present she bought with her own pocket money.

When the two of them are sharing their own special moment together. When our little guy runs up to his big sister and hugs her.  When I see how he looks up to her and how lovingly she looks down at him.  How proud they are of each other.

When she asks me how my blogs are going and likes one of my Instagram posts. Such a caring young girl, not your “typical teenager” by a long shot.

These are the moments a Mom Lives for.

I Love You, Dad

When I’m cooking a meal and I can hear my son and his Dad playing and giggling and making jokes.

When my hubby hoists my son up on his shoulders and carries him home from the beach.

When the kids are both climbing all over their Dad or one on each side of their Dad, holding his hand, walking into a busy shopping centre.   When they are outside in the garden playing cricket, basketball, jumping on the trampoline or feeding the tortoises.

When my hubby is reading a bedtime story and one of the kids is snuggled up close or sitting on his lap. I watched him do this for years with his daughter and now it’s our son’s turn.

These are the Moment’s a Mom Lives for.

I love You, Gran and Grandpa

My Mom has been coming to stay with us every Wednesday night for a while so we can work on our blogs together.  My Mom has a very special relationship with our little boy.  He absolutely adores her.

When he talks about family, it’s not just our smaller family unit, his parents and his big sister, he always includes his Granny and Grandpa (even though Grandpa is in Frail Care now and can’t come visit us anymore).

One day my Mom came over to babysit so my hubby and I could go somewhere and so my little guy and my Mom co-slept like we usually do. My Mom said, before they went to sleep, he kissed her from head to toe.

These are the Moments a Mom Lives for.

I look forward to many, many more of these of sacred moments to cherish and hold dear as the years fly by.  And because I am short on this kind of life experience right now, I have asked a friend who has a child who has just left for University to write a sequel to this post.

My Mom and Virtual Assistant, Jill Alexa, just wrote this gorgeous sequel:

Count Your Blessings Name Them One by One by JillAlexa

Over to You

What moments do you live for, Mama?  Please share any precious moments with your children or family that popped into your head while reading this post.