by Kelly Greenbaum

Created on: September 29, 2009

Motherhood changes every aspect of a woman's life. It all sounds so cute; little babies laughing, saying mama, dressing them up in cute clothing, cuddling with them, and many other wonderful images come to a mother's mind when she is getting ready to give birth. New moms don't always realize the toughest things about becoming a mother including, hormonal changes, weight gain. lack of sleep, lack of freedom, and sickness.

There is a reason why people who have had children tell people that have not yet, to do whatever they want, and to go wherever they want to go, before having children. Having a baby changes all of your priorities for the rest of your life. After having the baby when you wake up you're a mother, throughout the day you're a mother, and when you go to bed at night, you're a mother.

It starts out just nurturing them and fulfilling their basic needs which includes eating, sleeping, and pooping, for about the first three weeks. This is when a mother first realizes her every waking hour has to be spent making sure the babies needs are met. Often mother's are exhausted from lack of sleep for the first few months, because babies, for some reason, seem to come home from the hospital on a nocturnal schedule. Every new mother tells herself at this difficult time, "If I can just make it through this phase I'll have made it through the worst of it."

Before you know it they can crawl, then they can walk, and as soon as they begin to walk, almost simultaneously, they begin to run. This is when you realize parenting involves lots of running and saying no when the child runs into traffic or gets away from you at a mall parking lot. This is also a time when taking them to a grocery store becomes a never ending quest for the new baby to grab as many things in sight, and then cry when they can't have them.

All of this aside, having some, "me time" becomes increasingly difficult for new moms. We have all seen the mother at the grocery market who looked exhausted and miserable while toting around a child screaming because he or she didn't get what they wanted in the store. The baby becomes priority number one and it is important for mothers to have support from the child's father and or friends and other family members. There is nothing wrong with needing some time away from your baby. The importance of the mother's mental state is equally important to the baby's sense of well being. Children can tell when their parents are stressed out.

Teenagers deserve their own category. If you are a good parent, you are not your child's best friend, you are the opposite. This is when even the sweetest of children decide they hate their moms and are embarrassed of them. Things like, dropping them off a block away from school, and being treated like the great plague around their friends, is normal. Sometimes doing your job as a good parent is really not cool, but it is well worth it in the long run. Just remember, don't take it personally. Odds are the more they hate you, the better job you're doing.

Once you are a mom you are always a mom, no matter how old your children are. Once you go through the baby phases, grade school, middle and high schools, if you're lucky, they will decide to go to college. The empty nest syndrome starts kicking in and you realize the only time they call you is when they need money. When they're home, they are home just long enough to drop off their laundry and grab your car keys. But that's o.k. because eventually they will have children of their own and need you more then ever. Then you become a grandparent and the cycle repeats itself. Children will change your life forever. They will always need you in some capacity as a mom, regardless of what age they are.

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