Mom Mentality

It's been a rough week.

Hannah developed a fever on Sunday afternoon and hasn't recovered since. I attempted to send her off to daycare today (with just a cough) and got a post-nap call that she didn't sleep a wink and was unusually crying. So I made the executive decision to keep her home the rest of the week, starting with a visit to the clinic tomorrow morning.

Between 2:26 when I received the call from school and 3:00, I must have made 10 phone calls. To my mom, my husband, the doctor, the potential babysitter...and it got me thinking.

Let me preface this by saying that the last thing I am looking for here is a pat on the back. It's just me expressing a revelation.

Moms are amazing.

Actually let me rephrase.

Becoming a mom turns you into an amazing person (or even more amazing if you were amazing before).

We become these selfless individuals who put their kids first. Work gets tossed aside (momentarily), schedules are adjusted, chicken soup is purchased...we just want them to get better.

But, it really goes beyond our kids getting sick. It's becoming the 2nd or 3rd or 4th most important person in your life.

Last night, I watched an episode of What Not to Wear where the 39 year old makeover candidate was a mom to many. She had totally put her style on the back burner when her kids came along. The part that got me the most was when her husband said that he routinely offered her $100 to go shopping but she figured the money would be better spent on her kids.

Now don't get me wrong, I will never say no to a shopping spree. And I definitely take the occasional time to myself (my husband is probably rolling his eyes after an evening massage and saturday afternoon at the spa, but these visit were truly out of the ordinary). But in my day to day life I usually come 4th. First is Hannah, second is Winston (our dog), third is my husband...and then there's me.

I'm not complaining. I'm just realizing how along with the responsibility of becoming a mom comes the change of hats. A hat that may not always be the most up to date, or well groomed or in tune with current events. But a hat that is most definitely full of love.

So on that note, I tip my hat to all of you moms whose lives have taken a 360 post childbirth. And I remind you that every so often you need to be #1.