The Power of Motherhood and Friendship

Last week my son had an art show at school. He was eager to show us all the amazing art him and his classmates had done. While we were there he was also eager to see some of his friends. It was really heart warming watching how other children would come up to him. I watched the look on his face, the way he moved his body and the excitement in his eyes. He kept asking for one friend in particular and the moment that they came face to face was awesome. They both lit up and ran to one another and collapsed in a hug. They lingered there for a moment before pulling apart then started squealing with excitement and soon were off running around like little boys do.

I felt a surge of excitement watching him. I loved watching my child be truly and innocently happy to see his friend. I was happy for him. I know that feeling. I am fortunate to be blessed with some amazing girlfriends in my life. I too tend to linger in my hugs and want to stay in that moment. True friends are a rare breed. I am just lucky I stumbled on many of these women who are a part of me. Even when there are spaces in time where we do not see one another, that never matters.

We are all busy and most of us now are moms. We have big girl jobs and responsibilities. Instead of late nights in a wine fog we are running around the house picking up crumbs, cleaning boogers and wiping asses. It is not glamorous by any means yet most of us wouldn't trade it for the world.

That doesn't mean that we don't need to escape once in awhile. Sometimes we just need to step outside of our own world and breathe. That's where those incredible women I was talking about earlier come in.

I know that just because it has been a few days, a couple weeks, or several months; I know that they still will be there if I need them. I do not need to explain to them that I have been too exhausted to pick up the phone, send a text or try to organize a get together. I do not need to make up twenty excuses for why I haven't showered, picked up the toys scattered all over the floor or why that I haven't cleaned up the yogurt stain on the couch left a few days ago by the eighteen month old.

I don't have to explain anything, ever!

When I am surrounded by my girlfriends it is often because we have dragged our exhausted asses out of the house for a play date. This alone is an event for each one of us. We do it though! We do it for the kids...more importantly, we do it for US.

Those two little boys who hugged and were so happy to see one another...I get it! I feel that way when I see any of my girlfriends. I am suddenly at ease to be able to vent, exhale, and simply just be in the same room with them.

There is a strong power of motherhood and friendship. What we share is as sacred as what you share with your partner, husband or wife. Their is loyalty, trust, and never any judgement. We do not put one another down. We help to hold one another up.

There is an unspoken love and devotion when you share motherhood. Motherhood is not a race or a game to see who can do the best. Motherhood is that place we all meet to look at one another and say: You are doing a fabulous job! It is the silence that lingers in moments of exhaustion that are soon filled with laughter of the stories we can share of the craziness in our day.

Some women talk about how when they become mothers they loose friendships and their relationships change. It is true that relationships do change. It is more like a shift. I feel that my friendships have grown stronger. I have a circle of women, here and miles away, that I am honored to have in my world. I feel lucky to share this amazing journey with each one of them.