Motherhood

[azziria]

The UK news today is carrying a piece about a 6 year old girl who went missing yesterday evening and was finally found this morning safe and well fast asleep under a cot in a neighbour’s house. I’ve seen one photo of the girl’s mother with her daughter in her arms - she looks ecstatically happy to have her child back safe and well.

It must be every mother’s nightmare to lose a child; I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to one of mine. They are so precious, and I am so vulnerable through them. Before I had my son (who was an accident - I was the last person in the world who was ever going to have kids!) I didn’t understand what it felt like to love someone so completely. I’d been in love, and I loved DH, but the love I feel for my children is something totally different, far more fundamental, visceral, and unconditional. I would without a moment’s hesitation die for them, and that’s a scary feeling sometimes.

I once read somewhere that there are three types of people in this world: men, women, and mothers. At the time (this was pre-children) I thought that was daft; now I’m not so sure. Since I’ve become a mother, what motivates me in life has changed radically. I’ve also realised how thin the veneer of civilisation we adopt really is, and how much primal stuff is still there lurking under the surface: touch my kids and you’ll have me to answer to, and believe me, rational thought won’t come into it!

Comments

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Great post, Azz! Until I had DS, I couldn't possibly have comprehended what you meant. But now, I realise that I would give up anything and everything for him, and not turn a hair. And it's a different sort of love to what I feel for DH - I love him completely, but I also know that he can take care of himself, and I think he knows the same about me. Whereas that primal urge to protect comes out with your kids. And it's just your kids, I think - I don't feel even remotely the same thing for SD, and I don't think I ever will, even though I've known her quite a while. As soon as DS was born, I knew I would give everything for him.

[aguynamedrick.livejournal.com]

It's good to hear a missing child story with a happy ending.

There are three levels of adulthood. The first is when you move out on your own because you learn to take care of yourself. The second is when you get married because you learn to think of someone like you think of yourself. The third is parenthood because you learn to put someone before you.