Lessons From Liam

Today is Mother’s Day. Traditionally a day when we celebrate all those amazing moms, including our own mom, our sisters, our friends, or any woman who enriches, nurtures, and positively impacts the lives of our little ones. It is a day to honour a mother’s courage, sacrifice, encouragement, compassion, and strength; and it is a day to recognize the selflessness of a mother’s love.

On this Mother’s Day, I was awoken by my little one. He was standing next to my bed sweetly whispering “Happy Mother’s Day Mama”. It was the most beautiful wake-up call I have ever received, albeit earlier than I would have preferred, but regardless my heart was bursting with joy. What a sweetheart he can be!! The morning progressed, and he excitedly presented me with a cake, a homemade card, and then a gift he made for me [at nursery school]. I cried. I was so touched. What purity of love and thoughtfulness my child was bestowing on me; and it made me realize that I am blessed to be a mommy because of my son. I get to be celebrated on this day – Mother’s Day – all because of him. He is my everyday blessing; and though I stumble along through this journey of motherhood, hoping that I am doing right by him, trying to raise him to be a kind, thoughtful, attentive, polite, and responsible little person I realize that he is. He is all these things at such a young age. But he is more, because he is actually teaching me. He challenges me. He engages me. He enlightens me. I am learning life-lessons from my son. It’s amazing! So for all you mommies (and daddies) out there, I think you too can relate to these Lessons from Liam:

1. Laugh. Laugh a lot. Laugh out loud. Just laugh. It makes you feel good. It makes the person you are with feel good. You smile more. You breathe deeper. You feel lighter. My son has the greatest variety of laughs – from little twitters to deafening guffaws – and they all sound fantastic! With laughter and giggles, life feels easier and problems feel smaller; and that moment of laughter is far more profound than moments of worry, of stress, or of anger. With laughter, you feel alive. Liam reminds me everyday to feel alive with laughter.

2. Be Silly. This life-lesson is a good one for me to remember. I tend to get caught up in the tedious – that driving need to follow structure, order, and routine. My son will tease me – he will be wild, rambunctious, and down-right silly, begging that I hide so he can find me or to chase him and tickle him. Sometimes it is an aggravation for me, as I am striving to complete tasks or chores … but then I breathe, I watch, and I realize that his activity is far more engaging than mine own. I realize that I am taking mundane tasks too seriously. Who cares [but me] if the dishes aren’t done right away? Who cares [but me] if the beds aren’t made before leaving the house? Yes chores need to get done, but they don’t always need to take precedent. So be silly. Take a moment to play hide-and-seek or have a tickle fight. These moments will not last forever, but forever there will always be dishes that need to be washed.

3. Dance. I used to love dancing. When I was a child I would tape bottle caps to the bottom of my shoes and tap dance on the kindergarten-room tables (um … I was actually a pre-teen when I did this!). The point, is that even at an early age, I knew the importance of dancing – the expression, the freedom, the flight of the body twirling, jumping, bending, and twisting. It was freeing. It was joyous. It was fun. With the pressures of life, with the stresses we face, and the adversities we endure, we often forget to dance. We forget to be free. We forget to twirl. I am thankful that my son reminds me to dance; and everyday we dance together. It leads to laughter. It leads to silliness. It leads to a moment of freedom and flight.

4. Hug. Snuggle. Cuddle. Embrace. Stop what you are doing and hold your child tight. Hold your husband tight. Hug your friends. Hug your parents. Hug your siblings. Just hug. Liam hugs me several times throughout the day. I was never a cuddly person and often squirmed when hugged, but because of Liam’s endless affections we have become a hugging household. We snuggle. We cuddle. We have family hugs. It’s the most wonderful sensation, and according to studies it has proven health benefits (hugging reduces your blood pressure and can boost your immune system); and with all the adversities we have gone through, throughout my cancer journey, any health benefits are greatly appreciated. So I follow my son’s lead, and I hug. I hug tight. And I hug often.

So on this Mother’s Day and always, take a moment to celebrate the lessons your little ones are teaching you. It’s these moments, these precious little life-lessons that are what makes motherhood – parenthood – such a remarkable journey to traverse. So have the courage to be the student instead of the teacher, if only for a moment.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Lessons From Liam. Published by: Crystal Joy Hall