“Mom, you were right.” Now that I’m well into raising my school-aged girls, I find myself saying this a lot as I look back at my own childhood. Once I became a preteen, and then an independant teenager, I didn’t feel there was much my mom said that resonated with me. Perhaps it was the age, or rather the attitude that my mom “just didn’t have a clue.” Luckily, as I grew into an adult and became a mother myself, I have a lot more empathy for what lessons and values my own mother was trying to instill in me. One thing that sticks out in my mind, was how we always had to send thank you cards for any gifts that we received. It was a simple gesture, and a huge lesson in gratitude. One that I now try to instill in my own daughters, one thank you at a time.

This month we partnered with Kids in the House to bring you stories around the theme “Live and Learn.” In a New Year, there are always lots of new lessons. And lets admit it, we often don’t know what we’re doing. Both Mamalode and Kids in the House know that parenting is hard, but it’s so much better if we’re doing it together. So, here are some of the lessons you’ve lived, learned, and shared with us this month.

You wrote about how living and learning is never more true than when raising babies. Sometimes what love really looks like is teaching your kids how to take care of themselves. One mom feels like every day is a performance review. 

Some of you found your magic in the dark of night, or learned creative ways to survive as a single mom. You learned what happened when you put your phone down around your kids, and how you might never take your three kids to the supermarket with you ever again!

Even at 5-years-old, your kids were learning the hard knocks at school, and they were lucky to have you recording all the memorable moments in a special book. 

You wrote about what you learned about different cultures on your travels to Turkey, and what the real meaning of love is. You wrote about what you've learned about life from adoption, and how a doctor learned that to really undertand what's going on, they just need to ask the mom. 

There were lessons to be learned in translating French words, and how your son has a habit of ruining the moment with his words. There was the moment after digging in the trash that you realized you love motherhood, and why you had to name your son Sam. 

You had “that kind of day”, where you realized that in the forgetting, there is no learning. You learned to live without your mother, and that leaving your heart wide open is the only way to live.

You wrote about how in winter, it reminds you that the time with your kids is brief, and how you learned that the path to success travels through the ordinary. You shared with us how you've longed for motherhood, and how dogs prepared you for kids.

When your body was done having babies, but your heart couldn't seem to let them go, you found yourself holding on too tight. You learned how to navigate parenting a boy with an insatiable mind, and that sometimes you just had to laugh out loud. 

You learned the strength of ordinary courage, and how the entire world contracted when you were waiting to feel a kick. The mother that I am, was a powerful story about learning who you are because of the mother you had. You also learned what the real acronym for GPS is. 

You wrote that sometimes being busy was just a way to fill the void, and that you've had to learn how to push through your grief. You shared with us the 10 things you've learned from the show Parenthood (sniff, sniff), and what it really feels like to live with depression.

You wrote about the lessons you've learned as you turn 40, what you've learned about your husband as a daddy to daughters, and how the fall out from your divorce still hurts after all these years. You wrote a haiku, “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” 

As you watched your son sleep, you realized that if you could do it over, you would make all the same bad decisions. When lightning struck twice, you learned how to parent two children with special needs, and how much 5th grade homework stressed you out.

You learned to listen more often, and felt that you were a good mother, yet were still failing every day. You urged us to remove our masks, piece by piece. A beautiful little girl taught us all a lesson about resiliency, and you told us about the 10 things that you still held true after 10 years of marriage. 

After having a kid, you learned how to get back in the ring and act again. Slowly, we learned how to let go of our babies as they grew, and why special needs moms will miss Kristina Braverman. Lastly, you wrote about making sure your son knows that he is loved, no matter what, and how much you have to learn from nurturing another being. 

Woven throughout all of these stories, were lessons in love, humility, resilience, strength, and courage. Hopefully, one day, your kids will look back on all these lessons and think, “my mom was right.”
 

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About the Author

Sarah Millar

Sarah Millar is the managing editor at Mamalode. She has the pleasure of not only wrangling writers but also her two daughters and husband. When not moving words around on a page or curating the best of the information freeway, you'll find her delving into her love of teaching.