Evolving Motherhood

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Good morning!! Now that was a nice little breakfast : ) Coffee, toast, berries & eggs!

A topic I have been meaning to write about for a while is the realization that the lifestyle of motherhood is ever-changing. When Mazen was a newborn and in the baby years after that, my mom’s group would meet up almost every afternoon. We would talk and breastfeed and hold our babies while they slept. We shared tips and supported one another. As an extrovert, those days with my friends saved me from long hours without adult interaction. We had such a glorious time, and it never crossed my mind that we were in a temporary phase of motherhood that would come to an end.

When our children started to crawl and walk (and second babies were born), the frequency of playdates started to wane. As much as we tried to keep the crumbs off the floor and the toy fights at bay, it just became a big commitment for someone to open their home to 10 wild kids. Things got broken and stained, and before we knew it we just stopped going to playdates at each other’s homes.

The kids kept getting bigger, needing more space so we moved the playdates outside to yards and parks or the Discovery Museum or the pool so the kids could have space to roam. Our time together became focused on chasing our little ones and keeping them out of trouble, and while it was still great to see each other, we often felt like we hadn’t really been able to catch up because we were so busy with the kids. And it was challenging to always plan playdates out in public around the weather and around our kids’ schedules, especially when the second generation of babies started to become mobile as well.

So for a while I really longed for the days when Mazen was a baby. I was sad that I didn’t realize how much I would miss those days until they were gone. But like most parts of motherhood, things evolved again.

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Recently I decided to do a reunion playdate at my house and had maybe 10-15 kids there. We created a “no shoes and no snacks outside of the kitchen” rule to keep the white carpets from getting destroyed. Now that the older kids are 4-5 years old we noticed that they played together nicely, and tears were at an all-time low. The play date went really well! I am hopeful that we will find a happy medium to connect with our friends (notice they are “our” friends – both Mazen’s and mine – now!) as they continue to grow up.

Lunch mix: hot tea, leftover kale, chicken and mac, and a Siggi’s for dessert.

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And for dinner – a meal from Plated with beef, kale, noodles, and mushrooms. Yum!!

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I’m curious as to whether any of you experienced what we did regarding the social aspects of motherhood?

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