Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Motherhood is Hard Work

My daughter, her husband and two year old have been staying at our home while they are looking for a house to buy. This is the same daughter that had the baby on Halloween. It is hard being a mother. It is a wonder that so many of us do it again and again.
Baby Jack is adorable and fun to cuddle but he is a full time job. We all go through several outfits a day with the throw up and diaper leakage.

This is me with my 4th and 5th child. They are 13 months a part. I look at this picture and feel a little sorry for myself. The truth is I just did what I needed to do and I didn't think that much about it. Now that I have free time, and my children are independent, I look at my former self in amazement. Where did my energy come from? How did I do all the motherly duties? How did I keep up? I'm not sure. I think the energy must come with each additional child.

It has been 12 years since this picture was taken. I had to sacrifice a lot for my big family but it was all worth it. I have the rest of my life to pursue my goals and dreams and I am finally finding the time to attempt some of them.

We women can do everything, just not everything at the same time! Do the best you can in the season that you are in, so when you look back you will have no regrets.

5 comments:

The Wallin's said...

Wow, that picture makes me cry! You look exhausted. Motherhood truly is a wonder. The biggest sacrifice but the greatest reward. Thanks for being my mom!

Elder Gifford & Wendy Nielsen said...

Carla, I appreciate your love and dedication to doing the right thing at the right time. Thank you for being an example of "delayed gratification" while you created such a beautiful family. I am delighted that you are able to pursue other talents now and find it so uplifting that you realized the importance of caring for your big family first and giving them such a good foundation. I feel so grateful to be a mother and look back on my years "in the trenches" with young children with satisfaction and delight now that all six are off and running. They are my greatest reward for many years of very hard work and much love. Hats off to you!!! Thanks for this entry.

Sherri said...

My response is completely different. I am very upset that you look absolutely adorable in a picture where you are trying to show motherly exhaustion. I'll never know how you do it all and always look BEAUTIFUL! But I will just keep observing and hope to figure it all out.

My Time to Blossom said...

What sweet comments. All of you ladies are incredible moms! Mindy-cooks lovely meals,is an expert laundress and is always doing field trips (several a week)with her daughter.
WoW mom Wendy beams when she talks about her children and grandchildren. Check out her blog and you can see what a FUN mom does in real life. She is amazing!
Sherri and her husband run a large business. She works 12 hours a day, with the kids in tow, and is one of these supermoms. I try to get her to slow down but she doesn't listen.

Christine said...

What a beautiful post. I'm glad I stopped by. I'll be back again sometime. I'm in the middle of being a busy, tired mom :)