Quiet Loneliness in Motherhood

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I have decided to post blog posts about various aspects of motherhood.  Don't worry, I'm working on other posts that have to do with family, friends, vacations and holidays, but loved the idea of this theme leading into Mom's Day.

A new dawn tears open another sleepless night.  A quiet house sleeps while her silhouette quietly slips from bed to begin the day.  Coffee, lunches, breakfasts, dishes.  She dresses and sends off her brood.  Child messes to clean, more dishes to be done.  Laundry running.  Floors to sweep.  Quiet busy.

The mother of little ones reads, plays, referees, counsels and disciplines her way through the day.  The phone rings, but the ability to answer it hinges on whether her child's screams allow her to.  Naptime quiet is her opportunity to deal with household business.  Emails from neglected friends slow.  One day, instead of notes from friends and loved ones, the email inbox holds nothing but advertising spam and bills.  Peeking into the mailbox becomes chore instead of joy.  Quiet lonely.

The mother who is in perpetual motion, never stopping to so much as think, suddenly finds eery quiet in the midst.  A once busy social butterfly finds that as she focused her life on her family and household duties, she invited loneliness into her door.  When chores are complete, children slumber and husband works, she sits alone.  Quietly alone.

Motherhood alters life dramatically, especially when focus shifts from self to others.  The others that take precedence see not the sacrifices made, nor should they.  It is a lesson far deeper and greater than any lesson learned in the classroom; the theoretical.  It is a lesson in her identity, in her Truth, in her God.

So, to my fellow mothers, when you feel alone, know this:  We all share an unspoken sisterhood in those quiet moments of 3am teething cries silented, naptime chore completion, bedtime snuggle tuck-ins.  And when we watch our children begin an adult life of their own, let us get together for a serious girl's vacation that beats all vacations.