“Great job, Mama!” Like children seeking praise, these are the words all new moms yearn to hear. I am certainly no exception. Recently, however, I’ve come to a realization. I am enough.
I was sitting breastfeeding Baby Ruth in a hotel lobby and a mom walked by with two boys. One was probably about 8 and the other around 10. She walked past me and headed up the steps and as she did she uttered the words: You are doing great Mama!
My heart beamed and my pride surged. It’s amazing how words so simple and subtle from a stranger can literally alter the course of my day. I was doing it. I was mothering. I was excelling. Someone noticed. I am a good mother.
What made the realization that I am enough be cemented in my head was that I wasn’t doing anything “special.” I wasn’t introducing a new toy or learning technique. I was simply sitting holding by baby in my arms and nursing her. Something millions of women have done before. Something instinctual. Something natural. And that act in and of itself was enough. (and don’t worry if you can’t or don’t want to breastfeed, if you are providing nutrition to your baby in whatever form you are able, you are doing a great job, Mama!) We really need to hear those words more.
Motherhood is tough. There are a million self-help books that cite to some trauma in childhood as being the source of all adulthood woos. With that sort of weight on our shoulders it is a wonder mothers don’t implode from the burden. And yet, not only do we endure, we thrive even when we don’t know that we are.
I’m here to tell all the mothers and fathers reading this that YOU ARE ENOUGH. And that: You are doing a great job Mama! This isn’t to say that when you need help, you shouldn’t seek it out, but this is to say that you should trust yourself and trust the journey. All your baby wants or needs right now is you.
Be there. Hold him/her. Love him/her. Cuddle him/her. Enjoy this time.
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