In honor of Mother's Day, it is my great pleasure to share with you an article written by my daughter, Laura Beth Payne, offering her perspectives on the changing seasons of motherhood, as well as sharing the meaningful support she has received from family therapist and author Erica Komisar. I think you're gonna love it! The introductory poem is my contribution.
Child of Mine
~ Paulette Jackson
Child of mine
Cherished days
Sweetest time
Love of mine
For all of time
I never knew how many things I missed out on before becoming a parent. The Tulip Poplar tree, for instance. These beauties line our backyard, but their bright, quirky flowers in the spring (and which only bloom in the spring) somehow escaped me until one day I was walking with my children and they each insisted on claiming a bloom for their own. I swear, I grew up with these things but had you asked me their colors or shape, I couldn't have described them to you. I am ever grateful to my babies for gifting me new eyes to see my world.
I think how parenthood is like that, too. It is easy enough to pass by the blooms of my children's different seasons in the grind of the day. I assure you, some blooms, some seasons, of toddlerhood I would wish entirely by-- tantrums, power struggles, all the tears. And yet, there are so many beauties tucked in each season-- the colors, the quirks, the cute and profound leaps they make-- and I must be careful to not miss them.
In her book "Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matter," family therapist Erica Komisar cites how American parenting is often focused on productivity and accomplishments in children whereas other countries tend to emphasize emotional and even spiritual development, literally the blooming of children, versus their "doing." I think about this a lot, and this Tulip Poplar blossom was such a reminder of it. Everything is indeed made beautiful in its time. I pray for the grace to notice the beauty in each of my children's seasons today.
Celebrating the gift of being a mother.
Happy Mother's Day.
Paulette Jackson lpc-mhsp
