The Flowers of Motherhood
Today I attended my eldest daughter’s first piano recital, and I have never felt more proud of someone in my life. I have always been very musical, and I love to play the piano and sing. I inherited my grandfather’s grand piano, for which I am extremely grateful. Imagine my joy when I discovered that my daughter wanted to learn to play it herself. Due to a string of illnesses this fall and other circumstances beyond our control, she has only had about four piano lessons so far. This is noteworthy only because after no more than four lessons she agreed to (and was excited to) play in front of others at her first recital.
Going into today, she and I both understood that her piano teacher was going to sit next to her at the piano and guide her through her song. Imagine my surprise, then, when she sat down at the piano alone during the recital. My heart was in my throat, but I had a peaceful smile plastered on my face in case she looked my way. As my thoughts raced through how many times we had practiced her song, how resilient I knew her to be, and how I would cheer for her depending on what happened as she played…she began to play her song. And she played the entire song by herself beautifully. It was the first time she had ever done so, and she did it in front of a somewhat large audience of parents, grandparents, and siblings.
Looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised. This is the same girl who I used to find quietly teaching herself how to do workbook pages during rest time in her bed. The same girl who began learning how to read and then expanded on that knowledge herself, sitting alone during quiet moments throughout the day slowly sounding out impossibly long words until she could read a book she picked up independently. I shouldn’t have been surprised by her independence today, and yet I was amazed by it.
And it got me thinking about how many times things like this will happen as a mother. We prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and sometimes, if we’re lucky, our kids surpass all expectations. It won’t always be in things like academics or musical skill. Sometimes we will see it in the way our child befriends another child at school who struggles to make friends. Or the way they keep showing up to practice even though they’ve learned that they don’t enjoy the sport we signed them up for. Maybe we will see it in the way they protect their siblings or pray on their own.
However it blooms, these flowers of motherhood will appear. So, keep putting in the work. Do everything you can to be a calm, steady force for your children. When you feel unstable or your world has rocked you, find the people who bring you back to peace. Ask for help. Make changes. Keep showing up for them and for yourself. Because, my friends, it will be so worth it when you watch your kids succeed in ways you later realize you showed them how to do.
