Motherhood: Breathing in the Simple

A recent trip to the beach with my little guy left my heart strings bursting with love.  Love for my growing baby boy, who amazes me each and every day with the new things he learns.  Love also for a new appreciation and understanding of the beauty in the simplest things in life.  Because, who are we kidding, life is a long string of simple pleasures over amplified in our memory boxes.  And this first year of being a mother has taught me the immense joy that comes with reveling in the smallest of pleasures.  Daily life with a small child can seem chaotic and crazy.  But what I have found to be most true is that the moments slow down, allowing you to really take things in if you let it: breathing in the simple.  Babies don't want you to buy them the most expensive toy, they just want your time.  Sitting down on the grass with Maverick at the park, walking with him as he explores the neighborhood, listening to music together in the mornings-these are the simple things that get the biggest smiles and allow you to slow down your days a bit, making you better able to take in the now.

Motherhood is mirror into your soul, making you feel so vulnerable and naked.  It really exposes your strengths and weaknesses.  I have learned that I actually like to be going-going all of the time and have to be doing "something."  I never really thought of myself as that type of person before having Maverick.  Once I became a mom, my life slowed down.  Bam!  It hit me hard.  I was not used to it at all.  I clumsily navigated through the first months in a haze of disbelief: so much time on my hands to simply love on this tiny little being that my husband and I created?  Yes!  And, I slowly started realizing that I did not need to be doing something all of the time.  Managing to get one thing done was a miracle and I finally started accepting this as reality.  I learned to really enjoy my son and enjoy being a mom.  It's a very simple realization really, but a tough lesson for me nonetheless.

Now that Maverick is an on-the-go one year old, I am falling in love with watching him explore the world around him.  It is the best feeling to see his eyes and facial expressions when he figures out something new-lightbulbs hovering over his little head!  Now, I absolutely cherish the slower moments of the day when we simply are-two people exploring the beach and the sand together, driftwood treasures and fat toes in the cool water.  So one of the biggest things I have learned this past year as a new mom: be present and slow down, because seeing the world through the eyes of my son is what being a great mom is all about.

xo, B