In Honor of Mother's Day

Welcome to Childbirth Today's 2012 Blog Carnival - honoring the busy month of May and all of the celebrations of midwives, nurses, doulas and childbirth educators...AND mothers!  Today's blog carnival entry features a post by Jenna Hull from Cleveland Ohio.  Jenna's website and eMagazine, Mother Wit, is a great place to go when the tough gets going - her wit and wisdom are fantastic!

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all!

Before I had kids, I was a near perfect mother. I knew the perfect disciplinary actions I would take when needed, I had precise bedtime routines and evening schedules in mind, and I thought meeting a child’s needs was a simple task. 

Eight years and three children later, I feel like the worst part of parenting is discipline. Oh how I loathe it. Who wants to be the mean mommy? Yet I know it is a necessary action and I do it often; sometimes with success even! 

Bedtime routines and evening schedules are a constant struggle. Typically, it is a nightly frenzy. Teeth, pajamas, and stories are hit or miss. Most nights any of the three are forgotten altogether. But by the third child, I’ve realized it’s okay if my five-year-old sleeps in his blue jeans and school shirt. Less laundry for mom! 

As for meeting my children’s needs, it’s hit or miss. What works one day may not work the next. What comforts them at breakfast may be a total failure by dinner. 

Through it all, I think I am a pretty gosh darn good mother. I’ve given up the illusion that I will be the perfect mother, like I once believed I would be. It’s not happening in this lifetime and I’m finally okay with that. 

My children are healthy, happy, and well adjusted. We talk to each other, we confide in each other, we trust each other, and we love one another. They know they can count on me to teach them right from wrong under the guise of discipline, provide a clean place for them to lay their sweet little heads, and give them endless acts of mothering trial and error to see if I can soothe their woes. Unbeknownst to them, they do the same for me and so much more. Who would have known?

About the author:
Jenna Hull is a writer, chocoholic, and mother of three homebirthed babes with a passion for natural childbirth. She is the creator of Mother Wit Magazine (www.motherwitworld.com) and welcomes your positive, empowering stories of birth gone right.