{Kelly} Project Empowering Motherhood

Today we hear from Kelly, the mommy behind How Hard Can This Be? Kelly's blog is one of my favorite mommy blogs because not only do I love what Kelly writes about but I also love her writing style. I discovered Kelly's blog back in April when my friend Jen shared Kelly's post about the first time her daughter Alina knowingly and meaningfully called her ma-ma. I was instantly hooked and couldn't get enough. Kelly captures the essence and beauty of motherhood. Just read any of her monthly letters to Alina or her posts on breastfeeding, changes, inside out (another favorite), International Women's Day, and falling in love.

Here are Kelly's answers:

1. One ugly truth about motherhood. Remember that Johnson and Johnson campaign, "Having a baby changes everything"? It's true. Having a baby changes EVERYTHING. It changes your marriage. It changes your self-perception. It changes your personality. It changes the way society thinks of you and treats you. It changes EVERYTHING. That's not to say that the changes aren't fully anticipated and welcomed. But we can't always see all the far-reaching changes, can't always comprehend the depth and breadth of the changes. There is not one facet of life that is untouched by the birth of your child.

2. What does motherhood mean to you? Motherhood...it means that the focus is no longer on yourself, on your own life. Your focus is now turned onto someone else, someone else's life. It's not about what you want to eat, or do on a Saturday night. It's about what your child needs, when they need it. Only after putting your child's needs first and fully satisfying them do you have time to then turn the attention to yourself.

3. How has motherhood empowered you? Before becoming a mother, I was actually pretty socially shy. I hated confrontation. I avoided standing up to authority figures. I was the good little worker bee, always eager to please, always eager to earn the gold star of approval. Then my child came along and I realized that this little baby has nobody but me (and my husband) to look out for her. She needs us to be her voice. She has empowered me to start standing up for what I believe, for the things that I think are in her best interests. Be it what to feed her, when to feed it to her, what kind of sleep schedule to prescribe to, where to have her for daycare, etc., I have found my voice in motherhood.

Thank you Kelly for sharing your motherhood experience with us and for being so eloquent when doing so.

Project Empowering Motherhood is an ongoing series in celebration and honor of Cati's 6 months. For my responses to the questions and more about the series, go HERE. To read Jenn, Melisa, Esther, Andrea, Jenny, Jen, Mollie, Jamie, Charlotte, Erika, Shari, Julie, Lenore, Caroline, Alex, Prudy and Delia's answers, go HERE. If you are interested in participating and being featured on the blog send your answers to the three questions to steppystar@aol.com.