It’s so easy to lose yourself to motherhood. In fact, it’s almost impossible not to lose yourself. The love for your children is so consuming that everything you do and every choice you make leads back to your kids and their needs. It’s pretty incredible!

But just because I’m a mommy…

…it doesn’t mean that I don’t long for just one day to sleep until 11:00 a.m. in my bed.

…it doesn’t mean that I should allow myself to become a tired-looking frump. Makeup never hurt anybody.

…it doesn’t mean that my sense of humor needs to fly out the window. Kids are supposed to make us laugh more!

…it doesn’t mean that I don’t have dreams of my own or things I’d like to accomplish. And yes, maybe I can even do some of those things while being a stay-at-home mom.

…it doesn’t mean that I don’t love a nice, silent car ride. By myself.

…it doesn’t mean that I have any idea what I’m doing when I find myself in new territory. Or old territory.

…it doesn’t mean that I’m nothing like I used to be. Motherhood has certainly changed me in major ways. But I’m still myself.

…it doesn’t mean that I don’t crave days spent with girl friends or a nice, quiet afternoon in a movie theater.

…it doesn’t mean that I have all the answers or don’t need my own mommy on a daily basis.

…it doesn’t mean that I know how to be strong when my heart breaks and when I’d like to just take a time out and cry.

…it doesn’t mean that I became a domestic goddess overnight. I need a live-in Ina Garten!

…it doesn’t mean that I don’t lose my temper and behave the way my toddler behaves every once in a while.

I am a mommy. And I have a very large responsibility on my hands. There are a lot of really fun, superficial things about being a parent. There are a lot of not-so-fun, challenging things about being a parent.

The rewards trump both of these things, though. It’s not about cute nurseries and adorable matching outfits. And it’s not about tantrums in public that make you want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

It’s about what I’m expected to teach them. The things that will grow them into the people that I’ve asked God to help me with in raising them. And then finding out, in their time, what they’ve learned. It’s about seeing the sweet souls that they are and hearing from them just how much they love you when you tell them how much you love them.