The Boot Camp of Motherhood

I traded my iPod for a baby monitor. Nights spent sitting on the porch writing were exchanged for a rocking chair in the nursery. Primping became, “Yes—I took a shower today!” Prayers have become specific and frequent.

I miss running. And movie theaters. And going to the bathroom alone.

But I’ve gained a cuddle buddy whose laugh is one of God’s greatest creations. And I understand my parents so much better now!

If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m a relatively new mom. A boy mama. Nothing prepares you for the roller coaster ride called motherhood. It’s one of those you just have to experience it for yourself kind of things. Lots of welcomed (and some unsolicited) advice will be hurled in your direction. It’s your prerogative to accept or decline, to skinny the list of what you’ll accept as gospel and what you will dispose.

I have sifted through such advice, and one area I’ve chosen to start working on now is my heart, preparing to receive my son’s future best friend: his wife.

I never want to be one of those bitterly mean mothers-in-law, like those we often hear about in pop culture or from friends and co-workers. She is unprepared to let go of her son when the time comes, believing the lie that “some woman will steal my son from me.” How does one avoid those thoughts and feelings?

If not for the godly women who have set examples for me and shared their experience and wisdom with me, my answer would be, “I have no idea!” I would not have this jump-start on the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship without my remarkable mother and mother-in-law setting the standard.

Here is what I know now—words to remember when the time to implement them comes: