Womanhood

Having that solid group of girlfriends is what makes womanhood so special. As I moved into another facet of womanhood, motherhood, I was so happy that I had created a village of girlfriends who could walk with me through this new journey.

I had many people who were there to support me and offer their help, but when it came to friends my age who also had kids? Well, there just weren't any. I knew that my friendships would change because I was newly married, and now I was adding a baby to the already changing dynamic. There were lessons that would come with being the first mom among my friends, but I had yet to see what they were.

I have forced myself to smile when I didn’t want to, and I have even told my daughters to smile in public if they were sad. The wording on this mask opened a conversation that I didn’t realize needed to happen.

There are no feelings of guilt (or anger) if we forget to respond to a text for a few days or haven't spoken in weeks. We are just happy to see each other when we finally can make our schedules work.

It’s important that you understand true “mom strength” isn’t something you gain by simply becoming a mom or buying the T-shirt. You will be tested time and time again, and you'll feel like those tests are breaking you, but in fact, they're strengthening your will and emotions. You will watch your children suffer, watch them fail, and say no a schmillion times -- but eventually you’ll gain your footing and your confidence as a mom, and you’ll become emotionally stronger than you ever imagined . . . but it’s not a painless process.

I was presented with what I thought was going to be the best decision ever. It was a long interview process -- almost three weeks. In that time I kept contemplating how happy I would be if I got the job and how proud of myself I would be. 

The sun came out to play the other day, and it happened to be the first morning in awhile that I didn’t have somewhere I needed to be by 9:00 a.m. My husband had taken the kids to preschool, and...