Motherhood Changed The Way I See My Mom

When you become a mother, Mother’s Day takes on a whole new meaning. Obviously.

But for me, becoming a mom — and every Mother’s Day since — has really shifted my perspective on so much.

I don’t have a living mother. This isn’t going to be a deep dive into my life story, but the short version is that my parents weren’t together for most of my life, and I was mainly raised by my dad. I still saw my mom on weekends and during the summers.

I carry a lot of guilt about my relationship with my mom, but that’s not really the point of this post.

What motherhood has given me is a completely different understanding of her.

All of the love, protectiveness, worry, and overwhelming emotion I feel toward my own children… she presumably felt all of that for me too.

There’s something about becoming a mother that makes you feel deeply connected to other moms — even across different generations, different lives, and different experiences.

You suddenly understand parts of motherhood you simply couldn’t before.

And honestly, there’s sadness in that for me too.

I’m sad I never got to fully understand this side of my mom while she was here. Sad that I never got to experience this connection with her as another mother.

But at the same time, there’s comfort in it.

There’s comfort in knowing she likely felt many of the same things I feel now.

And somehow, that makes me feel a little closer to her.