Free Shipping on Orders Over $75 🍁

So often as mothers we carry the weight.

We carry the weight of the hope in our hearts for the babies that haven’t yet come.

We carry the weight of the excitement on the mornings we take that first test that’ll tell us if we’ll be mamas or not.

We carry the weight of our babies as they grow and grow until it’s time to enter the world.

We carry the weight of the burden when sometimes our babies don’t grow or come as planned.

We carry the weight of our the needs of our children because if we didn’t then who else would?

We carry the weight of our spouses when sometimes they need us to carry more than our fair share but know they’d do the same for us too.

We carry the weight of the friendships that have fizzled out because of the weight that motherhood sometimes brings.

We carry the weight of careers that change with the needs of our families.

We carry the weight of the hopes and dreams we have for our children and for ourselves too.

We carry the weight of the ghosts of our former selves that seemed to have gotten lost as we’ve had to grow up and be the adult.

We carry the weight of our aging parents and sometimes having to be there for them instead of them for us.

We carry the weight. We do it because eons ago it was decided there’d be no being stronger than a mother to handle all of the things that are thrown at us. We were built to carry the weight—literally. We do it because we are strong enough and there is no better person to do it.

This article originally appeared on These Boy of Mine by Britt LeBoeuf

 

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our new book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Britt LeBoeuf

Britt is a married mother of two from northern New York. She has an undergraduate degree in Human Services. When she's not chasing down her two young children, she writes for sites such as Her View From Home, Scary Mommy, Filter Free Parents and Sammiches and Psych Meds. Check out her first published book, "Promises of Pineford" on Amazon too. On her blog, These Boys of Mine, she talks about parenting only boys, special needs parenting, mental health advocacy, being a miscarriage survivor and life as a crazy cat lady. 

To The Struggling Mama, This Is Just a Season

In: Faith, Motherhood
Mother standing at sink with toddler hugging her legs

Dear struggling mama, I am writing this letter to myself as much as I am writing it to you. I am that struggling mama. I am tired. I am worn. The constant noise of my toddlers is ringing in my ears. I can count on two hands the number of times I have slept through the night in the last five years. You walk into my house and I am embarrassed at the toys scattered on the floor or the laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for days. If you walk into my house you will hear the...

Keep Reading

Baby Boy, There’s So Much I Want You To Know

In: Baby, Motherhood, Toddler
Mom kissing little boy toddler on cheek

To the little boy who made me a mom,  I feel like it was just yesterday when I saw those two lines on the pregnancy test.  When the kicks and the excitement of hearing your heartbeat was like no other feeling. When my water broke and your daddy and I had a panic attack thinking, “This is really happening. We are parents.”  When I held you in my arms for the first time.  When Daddy and I were wondering how in the world we were going to be able to do this at home on our own.  RELATED: New Parents...

Keep Reading

In His Hand

In: Faith, Motherhood
Hand of adult holds hand of child with field and sunshine in background

The July sun was turning the sky orange when my 2-year-old son and I headed out to the chicken coop. As we shuffled along in our rubber boots, I smiled at him while mentally making a list of all the things I needed to do that evening: do the dishes, wash my husband’s work clothes, finish that online research, pull weeds in the garden. I also thought about my friend who is hurting, a family member with a health problem, and how hard my husband works. I sighed quietly, feeling the familiar feeling of disappointment in myself that I can’t stay...

Keep Reading

The Letting Go Happens Tooth by Tooth

In: Kids, Motherhood
Little boy smiling missing a tooth

There is something about a toothless grin. Not the gummy smile of infancy, but the wide-gapped delight of a child who has newly lost a tooth. Today’s was not the first tooth my son has lost—the first was over a year ago—but today, the fifth tooth, was a top one, and today his smile seemed to announce with an oh, so in my face clarity, that he and I had better make room for adulthood (or at least, pre-tweendom?). He is shedding his babyhood. Those teeth that kept me up at night on their way in have outgrown their use....

Keep Reading

I Love Who We’ve Become

In: Baby, Motherhood
Mother holding newborn, black-and-white photo

The lines of my body are softer now. Softer like her little cheeks as they brush against mine. Softer like her smile while she falls asleep looking up at me. Softer like her perfect head of hair when I brush it after bath time. The parts of my body are more full now. Full like her belly because of the milk I create. Full like her thighs fitting into new sizes as we leave the premie world in our rearview. Full like our hearts since we found out she was coming, and they’ve filled exponentially every day since. RELATED: The...

Keep Reading

It’s Okay if the Dishes Can’t Wait

In: Living, Motherhood
Woman washing dishes

It’s been seven hours since I last spoke. There’s no one in the house to talk to. My husband is still at work and my kids are having a sleepover at Grandma’s. It’s also the Friday before a long weekend, so most of my friends have left for the cottage, which means my phone hasn’t dinged in a while. So, I did what most mothers do when they have the house to themselves for a few hours. I cleaned. I washed the dishes. I wiped the toothpaste off the bathroom mirror in my kids’ bathroom. I picked up the wood chips...

Keep Reading

To the Parents Facing a Child’s Illness: You Are Strong

In: Grief, Kids, Motherhood
Toddler with cast and IV looking out window

If you are the parents who just sat for hours in a cold doctor’s office to hear that your child has a life-threatening illness, you are so strong.  If you are the parents who can’t bring yourself to decorate or celebrate the unknown because you don’t know if they’ll ever come home, you are so strong.  If you are the parents who travel or relocate to deliver your child in one of the best hospitals with hopes it will change the outcome, you are so strong. If you are the parents who learn all the medical terminology so you understand...

Keep Reading

What Happens When Your Perfect Life Explodes?

In: Grief, Living, Loss, Marriage, Motherhood
Sad woman by window with her head in hands

One day you’re living your best life, writing articles about how perfect your marriage is, and the next, BOOM, life as you know it completely changes. I was blindsided by information that my husband had been lying to me for three years about certain aspects of our lives. I felt like I had been hit in the gut by the biggest rock you could imagine. What has followed has been a snowball of events and new information that has changed the course of my and my kids’ lives. So what do you do when your perfect explodes? This is one...

Keep Reading

Life Began with You

In: Baby, Motherhood
Mother holding baby to her chest by window

I heard about the labor pains. And the sleepless nights.  I heard about the inconveniences. And the never-ending sacrifices.  I heard about the “end of life as I knew it.” And the loss of my individual freedom.  I heard about how it would impact my career. And how I’d never get to travel the world.  I heard about how I should date my husband while I can. And how expensive it all is. I heard about never getting any alone time. And how frustrating it can be. I heard about loneliness, depression, and the blues. And how hard it is to...

Keep Reading

Sweet Baby, I Wish I Could Have Met You

In: Baby, Grief, Loss, Motherhood
Toddler standing at table with lit candles, color photo

Miscarriage. It floods my head with devastating memories. It seems like it happened so long ago, yet I can still feel the roller coaster of emotions I was taken on. My husband and I were ready to start a family, and I was fortunate enough to get pregnant right away. Holding that pregnancy test with my hands shaking and voice trembling, I was scared and excited.  I was ready to be a mom. Even though seeing those two lines so quickly left me shocked, I was ready to meet my baby. When I found out there was a little human growing...

Keep Reading