The Best Thing About Being a Mom

Official entry to Ging Lorenzo's Mother's Day Contest

The best thing about being a Mom is not having someone to buy toys and clothes for, someone to plan birthdays for, someone to puree vegetables for. It's not having someone to smile at you as he first learns to walk, or having people commend you for having a cute, beautiful, well-behaved baby.

It's not about having your fertility unchallenged. It's not about having someone to strengthen a marriage. It's not about dreaming dreams and making plans with your husband for.

It's not about going up on a stage to pin a medal on a bright child. Or having someone tell you "I love you" and know that you mean the world to her. And certainly, losing weight from breastfeeding and the late nights is not always something an exhausted mother would appreciate. And would any parent honestly tell you to look forward to adolescence?

So what is the best thing about being a Mom then?

It's the front-row seat to a person's becoming, that's the best thing. Imagine a person, the greatest miracle in the world by virtue of what's in him and what choices he'll make, and you will know him first... know him best. Because you were there from the minute his heart started beating, and your heart will skip a thousand beats for him, for every threshold crossed, for every whimper in the night, for every proud moment. You will know his first memories for him, you will know the first songs in his heart... and all this, you will remind him when he forgets. Because you won't, not ever really, even when your mind and body gets weak.

You will watch a person become, and hopefully influenced and inspired well by you. The front-row seat will allow you opportunities for giving feedback, for giving guidance, but it will also remind you everyday that this is not your show, not your song, not your book that is unfolding. The greatest privilege, the most beautiful reward is just that... that you will be there when a person is born, and hopefully, till he grows up to be a witness to the same circle of life.