When Life Changes

Jay (foster child) and Tobi (on the right)

It was Mother's Day yesterday and so I was reminiscent.  I even went back and looked through some old photos on the computer of when each of our three children were born.  It was a beautiful time of reflection, seeing the growth and development that time brings.  

What I didn't expect to stumble upon though was the folder full of photos of children we fostered over about a five-year span.  I began wondering how old of them would be now, what they'd be like and how life was going for them.

I smiled as I recalled so many memories.  I remembered the weekend we had our regular three foster girls, plus another girl (that we looked after once a month), Tobi was about 1 year old and I was heavily pregnant.  We decided to go out to the movies with the five kids but neither Dave or I were prepared for the looks and stares we attracted!  We laughed so hard.  

Mothers, how true are these words written by Cherie Carter-Scott?

"Your reality is transformed the moment your child arrives.
Welcome to motherhood: the single most profound and transformative rite of passage a woman can experience. 

Of course, there are other major turning points throughout our lives — puberty, graduations, career achievements, marriage — but none can really compare to the experience of welcoming a child into this world and being responsible for its care. 

Motherhood is the most precious gift as well as the ultimate responsibility . . . and the doorway to the most extraordinary love you have ever known. 

It stretches you beyond what you ever imagined you were capable of. It can be a source of supreme fulfillment and, at times, a source of some of the deepest heartbreak.
To say that motherhood transforms your life forever is something of an understatement. 

My last day of teaching my Grade 3's, 2005

 The moment your child is born, your life undergoes seismic changes; however things were before this tiny creature arrived, they certainly are no longer that way. 

Tobi@1 week old

It turns your life, your schedule, your perspective, and your relationships inside out, backward, and upside down. 

You feel a love that is different from anything you've ever felt before. 

Eliana@1 week old

What mattered before seems less significant as a whole new set of priorities arise, and you experience life in a totally new way. 

When you assume the new identity of "mother," within an instant your world is never quite the same again".

Spencer@1 day old

Okay so this is a day late (unless you're in America), BUT whether you're a biological mother, a single mother, a grandmother, a foster mother or an adoptive mother, I want to say Happy Mother's Day 2012.  

When life changed for me, I could not have been happier.  

What a privilege and a joy it is to be called someone's mum! 

Our three regular foster girls playing with Tobi

Eliana on the way!

Want to share a special or funny 'mum' memory?  Leave a comment below.