the mom club

When I was pregnant with Miller, I remember a good friend told me she was excited for me to join “the club.” The club that no one tells you about. I remember looking at her confused until she continued with, “the mom club.”

She proceeded to explain that it is the club where you completely understand what each other are going through as mothers. It is the club that allows you to relate to one another in the joy, the heartbreak, and love your heart feels for your children. The club that gives you the support, the listening ear, and love only a mother could understand.

As mothers, our daily lives are full of roller coaster emotions. One minute, we are excited for our kids to be awake and give us a morning hug, and an hour later we are counting down the minutes to nap time.

We cry happy tears after our child runs up to us saying, ” I love you mommy,” and soon after find ourselves crying tears of frustration because you find pee all over your sunroom floor.

We need another woman to vent to about our frustrations with family, our fears, and our lack of support from our husband, but feel guilty for feeling what bothers us.

We absolutely love seeing our babies with their rolls and double chins, but cry about our own.

We stress over the “messy” state our home is in, but do not think twice when walking into another mother’s home with toys thrown everywhere and dishes in the sink.

We have every intention in joining a women’s group or baking a dinner for the neighbor in need, but between work, our husband’s job, the kids’ schedules, and maintaining a functioning home, it slips your mind.

We plan to get up early to work out and have bible time, but push the snooze after being up multiple times in the night with a baby.

We consistently compare ourselves to other mothers when, instead, we should understand that we are perfectly made and chosen as our children’s mother.

We worry to the point of self-induced anxiety when our kids are sick.

We are exhausted beyond description; mentally and physically. We can’t remember the last time we had a REAL minute to ourselves. We couldn’t even tell you if we brushed our teeth this morning.

We crave an afternoon alone. Without asking them, we wish our spouse would send us out the door with a gift card in hand to our favorite coffee shop, to our favorite store, or even to the grocery store.

We feel like everyone around us (especially on social media) is “moving forward” while we haven’t gotten the promotion we hoped for or the positive pregnancy test.

And as a mother . . .

We get to provide for our children’s every need and be the one to encourage them the most.

We would gladly choose greasy hair and a quick dinner if it meant a day of fun, laughter, and good naps!

We are the one our children want the most after they scrape their knee or are afraid of the midwest storm.

We have a spouse who we know loves our child just as much. We have a spouse who is probably just as tired as we are but shows up daily to provide for the family.

We are the one who knows our children’s every need.

We have the gift of a cell phone to capture those 8,437 moments in pictures and post them like crazy to show our children off on Instagram.

We get to be the ones who celebrate their littlest milestones and watch them learn.

We are our children’s safe place.

When we become a mother, everything our own mother did or said prior becomes clear. We finally understand the love our mother has for us.

We finally have the tiniest glimpse of the love Christ has for each and every one of us. The unconditional, everlasting, and undeserving love that will never fade.

Within minutes of Miller’s birth, my heart understood everything she explained to me.  We are all strong, gifted, and understanding women of this beautiful club. Whether you are a mother of an unborn child, a mother who cares for a foster child, a mother of an angel baby, or a mother who loves a step-child . . . you belong.

You are loved.

You are cherished.

You were designed perfectly for the gift of motherhood.

Today, celebrate you. Celebrate through the tears of a screaming child, the joys of finishing your coffee, the disappointment in your husband not getting you a gift today, and the extra weight motherhood has given you.

You are worthy for celebration and worthy of love.

I love you and am SO glad you are a member of “the club”!

love always, kylie