The Essence of Motherhood...

....is not the smell of poop.  Although, I understand why you might think that, ha.  For me, the essence of motherhood is being needed.

I've always needed to be needed.  To feel useful, invaluable, necessary to someone other than myself.  Motherhood fulfilled that need in a way I never imagined possible.  Believe me, my need to be needed is sated and then some on a daily basis.

As my children have grown out of babyhood, then toddlerhood, are working on preschoolerhood (I made up that word) and moving toward childhood, their need of me has changed, maybe even lessened a bit.  They have gone from babies for whom it was necessary for me to take care of every basic need for them to little girls who can feed themselves, take themselves to the potty, and walk and more often run to where they need to go.  There is still a time, however, when they cannot live without me.

When the sickness comes.  Just like any other parent, I hate to see my kids sick.  Pale, lethargic, dull sunken eyes-it absolutely breaks my heart.  While it is miserable, however, I get such a sense of satisfaction out of being the only one that can make them feel better.  The only person in the world they want taking their temperature, dosing the Tylenol, holding their hair back, and applying wet washcloths strategically.  I would rather they not be sick at all, but if it must be, there is no one else I would want soothing their aching tummies or holding their feverish bodies, trying to suck at least a little bit of the discomfort out and take it on myself.

There are so many times in motherhood in which I am unsure.  Disposable vs. cloth, public vs. private school, what behavior to ignore and what to punish, heck, even what to make for dinner.  When they are sick, I am never unsure.  I always know what to do-whatever I need to do to make them better.  I feel so useful, so competent, so much in the essence of motherhood.

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Similasan and JuiceBoxJungle sponsored me to write this post, and they asked me to talk about the things I've missed because of kid-illnesses.  However, I couldn't think of a thing.  I mean, I know there are many events and plans that have been missed or rescheduled due to my kids being sick, but I don't care about a one of them...because there is nowhere I'd rather be than right there next to one of my sweeties when they need me the most.

Similasan is a company I would like right in the trenches alongside me fighting kiddo illnesses.  They specialize in healthy homeopathic remedies for adults and children, including earache relief, pink eye relief, and sleeplessness and anxiety relief (they actually make that! And it's all natural and safe!  Amazing!).

Also, Similasan is currently hosting a photo contest with Shutterfly.  They are looking for fabulous pictures of children that capture their bright eyed happiness, the kind of pictures that take your breath away.  Between now and March 28th, you can upload as many pics as you want here, and the winner will receive a $500 gift card!!