When you hear the soft cries in the middle of the night for a sip of water, a warm blanket, or a favorite stuffed animal.
Motherhood is preparing lunch after lunch, only to discover the nutritious snacks have been hidden away behind the car seat.
It’s spending every last dollar on your children’s needs and realizing you can’t remember what it’s like to sleep uninterrupted.
Motherhood is the constant squabbling between siblings, each arguing over who gets the window seat or who’s your favorite, even though you love them all equally—at least on good days.
It’s cleaning up more mess than you ever imagined and being embarrassed by the state of your car.
Every day feels like a barrage of “why” questions, with you often left without answers.
You can gauge your child’s fever just by the touch of their forehead, and the physical changes to your body—stretch marks, larger feet, and less perky breasts—are badges of honor.
It’s the realization of how much you appreciate your own mother now that you’re in the trenches of parenting.
Motherhood is the dream of finally conquering that never-ending laundry pile, even though you know it’s an impossible feat.
You find yourself singing along to your kids’ favorite songs, even when they drive you up the wall.
There’s an unease that settles in when your children aren’t all safely under your roof, and you never truly get to rest, always feeling just a bit under the weather.
You learn to wipe runny noses with your sleeves and use your spit for quick clean-ups.
You can recognize each child’s footsteps as they descend the stairs, and you find yourself biting back the urge to say “I told you so” even when you’ve warned them repeatedly.
And just when you feel like collapsing from exhaustion, one of them lets out a silly noise or does something unexpected that makes you laugh uncontrollably.
In those fleeting moments, when your kids are piled on your bed, rosy-cheeked and giggling, you realize that these precious moments are what truly matter. They are your everything, worth every sacrifice and sleepless night.
But then, just as quickly, one child accidentally kicks another, leading to a bite, and you wish you could rewind time to savor that joy a little longer.
And so the cycle continues, over and over again. That’s what motherhood means to me.
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In summary, motherhood is a whirlwind of late-night demands, sibling rivalries, and the sweet chaos of love and laughter, all while navigating the challenges and changes that come with raising children.