The best thing about being a mother is fully understanding what unconditional love is all about.

As mothers we are tested in those early years. Our beautiful babies keep us up late into the night, then turn around and wake us up way too early in the morning.  The vomit and the poop in the diapers can’t keep us from loving our beautiful children!  I don’t know how but I think it somehow makes us love them more.

The real test of a mother’s love happens for many sometime between a child’s middle and high school year’s experience, depending on the child.  The pain of hearing my child yell, “I hate you,” or seeing an embarrassed look that begs me to “get lost” when her friends are around, tears at this mother’s heart.  Still I love my girls more than they can even imagine.

I look back and realize how much my mom did for me because she loved me.  There is only one person I can think of who has consistently cleaned up after me without complain.  My mom has volunteered to help clean up after me every time I have moved, and I moved every year for many years.  When I say “clean up,” I do not just mean a physical mess.  I have made my fair share of emotional messes, and my mom was always there eager to help.  I never really understood how much my mother loved me until I had children. 

I wake up every morning and look into my daughter’s messy room and see her peaceful look and wonder what happened to my baby.  While she is as beautiful as ever, it isn’t just her room that got messier.  It is harder for me to know how best to mother her. Her needs have changed, the questions she asks are too difficult to answer sometimes, and the toys she wants are so much more expensive.

I asked my middle daughter to clean her room this week and it isn’t cleaned yet.  I think I will need to spend part of my holiday weekend cleaning it.  It isn’t something I am really looking forward to, but it isn’t something I do resentfully.  With my oldest out of the house, I soak up these moments, knowing it will not be long until the room will be empty.