The Crapshoot That is Motherhood

I never thought about the leap of faith…or crapshoot…that motherhood truly is.

This weekend we went to visit friends who have two young children. One is biological, and the other adopted. They are 40 something parents, and the mom has put aside her career to be a suburban stay at home mom. The youngest child (who is biological) was born with physical challenges that have yet to be diagnosed, so much of their time is spent visiting doctors in search of some answers. It seems like an endless quest with speculations being thrown about freely.

My heart goes out to them, and as I looked at Seth on our ride home, I felt so eternally grateful for his good health and normal development. And, it got me thinking. There is so much of life that is uncertain….really everything……and fear of the unknown can be limiting. As a 40+ mom, I often wonder what the future will bring, but try to stop myself in my tracks and focus on the present. That said, when one becomes a parent, you have no idea what kind of child you’re going to get and how the experience will be for you and your family.

I am of the school of thought that everything happens for a reason, though we don’t always know why at the time. I like to think that we’re each given tests of our strength and that we aren’t given more than we can handle. Yet, sometimes I don’t fully grasp what people go through and why?

I applaud all those who have chosen to become moms and dads and take the leap of faith that parenting is. Especially when it comes to parenting later in life, we have lots of life experience behind us, but not baby experience. The mom we visited commented that she doesn’t have a major support system, and I wondered how she does it? It’s so helpful to have a sense of community. I am grateful for family and the friends I have and continue to make.

We are all in this together…..and as unpredictable as it is, we are each stronger than we know. When push comes to shove, we do our best to pull out all the stops as parents because we love our children no matter what.

How do you feel about the uncertainties of life?