What motherhood has taught me

Luky;
If you were to ask me what motherhood has really taught me, I could only say: an overwhelming wonderment at the versatility of our Creator. When He created humanity, He didn't do a rush job. Just as every snowflake has its unique shape, so did He fashion our fingerprints with an incredibly finetipped pencil.


Now and then God gives a lucky mom two or even more babies at once. Sometimes the babies are identical, but still your really clever teacher or mother will never ever be fooled into believing Jane when she impersonates Joan. Isn't it amazing how you can have ten children, all from the same mother and father, all attending the same schools, sharing the same home background, eating the same kind of food, wearing the same kind of clothes, practising the same religion, yet each one a unique individual, full of his own character and personality?


They are so different
They may speak with the same accent or wear similar clothes, yet deep down they are so different.
Isn't is amazing, moreover, how a man can fall very deeply in love with his wife, yet entertain no more than a peaceful platonic affection for her identical twin sister?


Many mothers may have made the same mistake I did, trying to push all their children into the same mould. 
If so, they will have found out that each child needs his or her own mould. Discipline and rules cannot be changed from one child to another, but treatment can never be uniform. For example, when you tell one child to go to the shop for you, he'll fly. Ask another and you get a thousand words. Ask a third and he'll do it, and sulk.


Now if you should use your sergeant-major's voice for the first child, chances are he'd bleed inside for a day. Use is on the second, and he'll condense his thousand words to a single "Yes, Ma." 
Try it on the third, and he'll smile and make a joke.


Infinitely perplexing
It's infinitely perplexing, this business of parenthood; but it's fun too. What I've learned from my children I apply to adults. When I meet someone whose exterior does not particularly impress me, I think to myself: You were nine months in the making after which your mother thought you important enough to carry you around all day, change your nappies and stay up nights to see that you survived. You may not look any great shakes to me, but to your mother you are tops, so I must respect you too.


A good rule
Every person is an individual with his or her own heart and  vulnerability. No matter how self-contained he or she may look, inside they may be nursing deep grief. Each person is worthy of our consideration and respect. I think it would be a good rule to treat each person we meet as though he or she were the chairperson of the company we work for. Courtesy and respect should shine from us.


Rich or poor, handsome or plain, healthy or disabled, everyone has been created by the same heavenly Father whose only Son died on the cross to set us free from our sins. Surely, then, everyone deserves our courtesy and respect?


*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette in beautiful Ireland. Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose