What I Learned From Being A Mother

The Intentional and Unintentional Lessons That Have Come Over Nearly 3 Decades Of Motherhood

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I reflected back on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the nearly 28 years I’ve been a mom. I don’t believe that motherhood is life’s only teacher for any of these lessons. It’s just the way I learned them:

I learned how to teach and that I have something I can learn from everyone.

I learned that a toddler who is beginning to walk isn’t afraid of falling down and I don’t need to be either.

I learned how to give and that there is so much I can receive.

I learned how to love unconditionally and how to be loved completely.

I learned that being paid in hugs and kisses makes you wealthier than being paid in dollars and cents.

I learned how to apologize and what it feels like to be forgiven.

I learned that getting down on the floor to play with my kids leaves us both feeling elevated.

I was reminded that the world is a magical, wonderful place when seen through the eyes of my child.

I learned that my parents were actually pretty smart people and exactly how much they sacrificed for me to have everything I needed and a lot of what I wanted.

I learned how to grieve and who I can turn to when I need comfort.

I learned how to be an “all in super fan” and how cheering for another’s success takes nothing away from me.

I learned how to be a team player and how being part of a team makes the game worth playing.

I learned I couldn’t do everything I wanted and how prioritizing what matters most helps me not feel like I’m missing out.

I learned how to do hard things and how doing hard things helps me to become more than I was.

I learned that there are times when doing less is actually the way to accomplish more.

I learned that I am too hard on myself and how to show myself more grace and extend grace to others too.

I learned that a teenager learning to drive doesn’t yet know what they don’t know and maybe I still have a thing or two to figure out myself.

I learned how to worry and where to find peace within it.

I learned how to talk less and listen more.

I learned that trying to understand is more effective in creating connection than trying to lecture.

I learned there is a season to be the pilot and there are other times when I am there to simply enjoy the ride.

I learned how not to take myself too seriously and that well-timed humor is a powerful way to disarm even the grumpiest of moods.

I learned that my example is even more powerful than my words.

I learned there are times when it’s also important to be in the picture and not only the one taking the picture.

I learned that giving someone the tools they need to succeed is a gift that is more valuable than giving them all the answers.

I learned that hearts can actually double, triple, and quadruple in size, and that it also can be broken into pieces, exist outside of my body, and go off to college.

I discovered new perspectives and how perspective is what continues to carry me through the hardest moments.

I learned from having adult kids that it is a privilege to be granted front row seats to every important moment and that you lay the foundation for that access over the first 18 years.

I also learned that our kids were always watching and listening, even when I thought they weren’t.

I learned that life is a series of moments to be lived within and that those moments become the threads that weave together to create the tapestry of your legacy.

I learned that even though I had children, I never intended to become a mother. And yet, becoming a mother was inevitable, because I fell so deeply in love with each of my babies the moment they were first placed in my arms, that I was powerless to become anything else.

What are some of the lessons you have learned through motherhood? Share them in the comment section below.

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