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Mother’s Day is next Sunday. Many women say, “Don’t make a fuss about me!” but men, can I say, please don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. The sacrifice involved in being a mother is absolutely staggering.

Yes, there is a sacrifice to being a father, but a mother pays for her sacrifice in blood. That is just the beginning. So, saying thank you on Mother’s Day to our own mothers is the best way to start.

Then the challenge is to make sure our children do the same. Just today, I said to my wife that my mother was right about most of the things she told me when I was growing up. At the time, I thought the reverse.

I cannot say thank you to her today because my own mother passed on many years ago. All the more reason to make sure my wife, the mother of my children, gets some thanks both from me as her husband and her children too.

As James Taylor sang, “Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel.” The below video is very relevant to this conversation. Why not play it for your children to encourage them to do the same for their mother?

It is easy to forget the excruciating pain and indignity that women have to go through in childbirth. My wife’s first labour was 19 hours.  Thankfully, the period of labour for my wife shortened over the next four children, but the pain still remained extremely intense.

Check out this excerpt from an article by a brave young mum, Autumn Benjamin, called “Becoming a Mother is Full of Sacrifice—and Worth Every Second.” Her honesty is searing, but heartwarming at the same time!

“At one point, I think my husband was at a loss. I realized that when I was being held by him in the hospital shower, and I was just crying uncontrollably. It’s all a blur, but I do remember saying, ‘She’s not safe inside of me anymore,’ and that was a really hard thing to work through.

I was also in so much pain. No one tells you that typically with a ‘quick delivery’ comes a bad rip. I ripped all the way up and down, and also side to side.

The weeks following, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t use the bathroom. I wore these big adult nappies. I never thought I would be normal again.

Kevin had to help me do EVERYTHING from pee, to walking up the stairs.

Being a mum is the ultimate sacrifice.

You give up your body for nine months to grow this little baby.

You go through labour and delivery.

You go through the emotions that come with childbirth.

You let go of all shame as you walk around your house in nappies and ask your significant other to spray warm water on your rip while you pee to avoid that burn.

You spend tireless hours latching your baby and feeding your baby to establish and keep up your milk supply because you want to breast feed so. damn. bad.

You remain patient through leaps, growth spurts, and cluster-feeding.

But most importantly, mums give up who they were before they were mothers. Most mums give up a lot of their hobbies, dreams, and plans. Mums put their lives on hold so their babies can live out theirs.”

As fathers, we can all relate to Autumn’s honest self-revelation.  We all know that the mother of our children deserves more than just a bouquet of flowers and a card. Having said that, it is a good place to start. You have to start somewhere.

Lovework

If you are still not sure about doing something special for Mother’s Day, check out our 60-second TV Community Service announcement, “Thanking Mothers Campaign”, from 2018 below.

Let’s pull the stops out for our own children’s mother, and wish every mother you see “Happy Mother’s Day” this coming Sunday. It is our job to make the pain worthwhile!

Yours for the mothers of our children,
Warwick Marsh

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Republished with thanks to Dads4Kids. Image courtesy of Elina Fairytale.