I heard once that if you add together all the ages of all your children, you get your "mother age". That means that I am 9+7+5+4+8 months = 25.8 mother years old. In my 25.8 mothering years, I have often wondered how my kids view me.
Sure, I know they look up to me while they are little. And I know that they love me unconditionally just as I love them. I could even jump to the conclusion that they think I am the best mom in the world, as all young children dare to do.
But as a person, not just a mom, how do I measure up? When they see me in my non-mother roles, such as Business Manager, wife, runner, Catholic, daughter, sister, friend...how do they think I rate?
Recently I came across that beloved Bible verse in 1 Corinthians 13: Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
And I thought, yup, that is exactly how I want my kids to view me:
Mom is patient, Mom is kind. She is not jealous, not pompous, not inflated, not rude, does not seek her own interests, is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injury, does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
But, wow, I have a LOT I need to change about myself in order to be remembered in this manner. Especially the patient and quick temper parts. Ouch.
As Mother Theresa said "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." And so each day I will begin anew with this verse to remind me of the kind of person I want to be when I grow up. Because God knows I'm not there yet. Not even close :)
What a great template to use!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm younger than you are, in terms of "mothering ages"! Ha ha! Well, until this baby comes. And mid-July comes, when 3 of the kids' birthdays will have upped me significantly.
Can I just use my mothering age as my real age?
My oldest is quite vocal in how she sees me... I am old, unfashionable, boring lol but she also says all the other moms her friends age are fake so I guess that means I am real. Honestly I dont care since I want her to see a person who values other things besides materialism etc. which is exactly what she sees
ReplyDeleteMy sons all think I am very pretty lol. But when they draw me In pictures I am always pregnant... Wonder where they get that idea from.
*ouch* and thank you. I, too, have a lot of work to do yet. Thanks for this post to remind me.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love how you added the "mom" to that verse....I've never read it with others in mind besides my husband....Something to think about every day that's for sure!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts to think about today....
I love this!! And I too need to work on the temper and the patience. Let me begin...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I am 56.4! :) Jeepers, I'm old.
ReplyDeleteI bet you do a better job than you think. You could add humility to that list, because you've got it.
ReplyDeleteI like my mothering age better than my real age. I'll take that one.
You are doing a great job!
Oh, I love this.
ReplyDeleteIt gives us something to live up to....besides the fact that my girls think I am the silliest person on the planet.
xo