te adoro

Since today is mother's day, I wanted to dedicate this post to some really important people.

Mothers.

Honestly, it's always crazy to me to think that my mom had the strength to go through hours of labor just so I could be here today. It's crazy that women all over the world at all hours of the day are going through such immense pain to welcome a new person into this world. I think the act of childbirth is such a selfless act; women know the circumstances but still go through it because of the love they have for their baby. Not only this, but for the most part, mother's have to deal with us for as long as we are alive.

Ever since I started working at the children's center, I have seen motherhood in new eyes. Since I'm working with infants (1 year olds), I have been able to share so many incredible moments with them. I have seen each one of them take their first steps, walking over to me with such beautiful smiles, hugging me once they have reached me. I'm not going to lie, I have teared up each time this has happened because these small babies are sharing these milestones with me. With beautiful moments like these come the tantrums, poop explosions, spit up/throw up (happens more often than i'd like), messy and stained t-shirts, pinches, bites, tears, and running away from the diaper table...naked. I had never really thought about how difficult it must be to be a mom. Thankfully, I get to go home after a rough day of work and relax. Once you are a mom, you can't do that. Your attention is on your child at ALL times. You rarely get "me time" and have now had to switch gears from worrying about yourself to worrying about baby & you. I know, everything is different for every mom, & who am I to speak not even being a mom myself? However, I can tell you this: every mother has had to struggle at some point in their life for her child & this to me is beautiful.

I complain about feeling like I don't receive as much love as I would like, but I need to take a step back & realize the amount of love my mother has shown me. She has had to deal with me & all my phases, my rebellion, my tears, my tantrums...me. She dealt with the painful changes her body went through because she wanted me. She has financially supported me with school & shared the frustrations with me, but even through all of this, she has never once shown me anything other than love. Yes, she sometimes has opinions I don't agree with, leading into arguments, but at the end of each argument comes the "I'm sorry, I just say all of this because I want was is best for you..". At the end of the day, everything she does is for me and my siblings, I will never be able to thank her enough for that. Now that I'm older & working, I see how hard it is to try to be on my own, I can only imagine how much my mom struggled being my age & coming to this foreign country trying to support herself, knowing nothing of english but succeeding anyways. She is one of the strongest women I know, I love her so much.

Take some time to thank your mom for all that she's done, not just today, but every chance you get. It's unfortunate that not every child can receive mother's love, but every child who does definitely needs to appreciate it.

Have a wonderful day, everyone :)