On Mother's day and my thought bubbles

It was a thoughtful mother's day for me. Though my hands were busy with a new cake recipe, my mind wandered aimlessly with "motherly" thoughts. Thoughts about my children and my own childhood, thoughts about how I fare with my kids as their mother. Questioning myself whether I am doing alright. The following are questions that I have raised for myself and which I would like to be able to answer with all honesty:

As a mother..

1. Am I fair?

2. Am I kind with my words?

3. Am I a source of encouragement?

4. Do I promote happiness?

5. Am I teaching my children humility by being humble myself? or am I so high-strung to admit my own mistakes?

6. Do I seek ways to be a better mother to my children or do I expect my children to be better for me?

7. Are my children coming home to a house filled with warmth or do they find themselves always tensed up when they are home?

8. Am I careful with my words? or do I often choose to say things that cuts like a sharp knife?

9. How often have I allowed my emotions to rule over me? over a sound judgement? 

10. Do I allow myself to hurt my chidlren physically and verbally?   Have I said something to my children that may harm them for life? Or have I always chosen to say things right?

There are so many more in my thought bubbles...but these are the ones that I am more concerned about. 

Being a mother is a responsibility! It is not only by choice that we become mothers but a calling! And just like any other vocation, this calling definitely make us responsible for our actions. Because in the end, we will not only be held accountable for how we fared as a mother, but also how we handled our children. 

There's so much things to change, so much lessons, not to unlearn, but to improve on. I want my children growing up confident of their abilities, determined, undaunted. I want them unafraid to share their opinion and always true to themselves. I hope my children will not be mere reflections of me and my husband but the kind of persons they want to be.

I have simple dreams for my children because I know that the role of dreaming big would be theirs. I am here to guide them not to pamper, not to ridicule, not to underestimate their abilities. I am their mother, and I know I can do more when my hands become an instrument to guide and not to hurt. A mother with fingers that can point them to the right direction, not fingers that will always point out and enumerate their mistakes. Arms that will hold them close whenever they are hurt or when they are victorious in even their smallest triumphs; not arms that will push them away...

borrowed image from lorch-seidel.de

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." ~ Washington Irving ~