Motherhood: one of the best clubs on the planet

I remember being pregnant and buying milk. Choosing a carton bearing my due date halted me in the grocery store. I stood there looking at that date knowing that I might pour milk from that carton as a mother. The milk in that carton would be the same, but the person pouring it would be different forever.

Turns out, I had to buy milk a few more times before my son decided to join us (he was 10 days late), but seeing that date on the carton still startled me. I knew that date meant a point of no return, and I felt thrilled to get to that destination. I read and heard all about the sleepless nights, the developmental stages and the unparalleled joys motherhood, but it hadn’t become my reality yet when I stood there in the grocery store. I still hadn’t joined the club.

The before and after of motherhood

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, my first son was born just a month before Mother’s Day. On that day to celebrate all things mom, my husband, son and I strolled around downtown as a family. As we crossed the street and I held my son in my arms, we passed some friends who were expecting their first baby in June. We greeted each other and hugged in the middle of the street. Her third-trimester belly bumped my post-baby belly and she exclaimed, “Happy Mother’s Day! I’m going to have to wait almost a year to celebrate with you!” We both smiled at each other. She was the before, I was the after.

My friend and I quickly broke our embrace (we were in the middle of the street!) and kept walking our opposite directions, but that hug will always be a part of my first Mother’s Day memories. I remember it because together we symbolized two distinct, and drastically different, stages of motherhood: becoming and being.

Even though I had only been a mom for only a month, my world was entirely different from my friend’s. As I embraced her in the street, I knew more about motherhood than my friend did, but not because she wasn’t busy preparing herself in all the same ways I did, or more. I knew about motherhood because I was a mom, and until you live in motherhood, you can’t really know what it means to be on this side of the fence and be a member of this club. My friend would know all that I did, she just would know it at her own time, in her own way.

Mother’s Day

As we approach another Mother’s Day I think about crossing that line to motherhood. I still pick up milk cartons and remember what it felt like to see my due date printed there. I anticipated motherhood and knew my life would change, but I couldn’t imagine how. For every mom-in-waiting, new mom, and all moms out there, we celebrate our club this Sunday, May 8th. We all become members in our own way, and exist on the other side together.

Enjoy and celebrate our day and our on-going membership in one of the best clubs on the planet!

When Eileen Calandro isn’t gazing at expiration dates on milk cartons in the grocery store, she is the Chief Mom Connector of Mom Central. You can read about her adventures with her family on her personal blog at calandroclan.com and connect with her on twitter at @MomCentralChat and @calandro5.