Motherhood.
We’re all living our own version of it and no matter what, it is a beautiful thing. Every mother’s journey is different from the next. We may share similarities but, ultimately our personal Motherhood Journey is as unique as we are. Why some mothers continue to compare themselves to others or judge others is really beyond me.
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the following article heading pop up on social media or in Google:
Tattooed Mom Has The Best Response To Being Told She ‘Doesn’t Look Like The Mom Type’
I’ve skipped it over more than a handful of times choosing not to read it. I was sure it was just some click-bait title to an article not worth my time. I was SO wrong!
Fellow tattooed mom, Gylisa Jayne, had some brilliant words for all of us that could apply to ANY mom – tattooed or not!
“Motherhood isn’t an exclusive club that you can only get into if you look or act the right way,” Jayne reminds us. “It’s full of women that all have lives and tales and colorful histories. Women of every type, from every background and every descent. Women that swear, women that don’t, women that are real, and women that don’t give a fuck about what you think.”
Gylisa, you nailed it!! We all had lives before we became mothers. Each of us has a history. We are not Saints. We’re also not necessarily Sinners. We are mothers but, also still individuals with our own thoughts, ideas, philosophies, and ways of life.
I personally swear like a sailor. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my kids. I was a young, single lady once which gave me great memories, fun stories, and also gives me a “colorful history”. Just because I am a mother to two children does not mean that I am no longer myself. Anyone that thought I was going to stop swearing just because I had kids was crazy! Anyone that thought I wasn’t going to keep collecting tattoos just because I had kids was insane! That would be the same as expecting me to stop enjoying my favorite hobbies or stop eating my favorite foods. I love my kids – they are a HUGE part of my life but, I also love other things, too.
There are no “rules”.
No mother has to to fit inside some neatly packaged set of guidelines or rules to join the Motherhood Club. It is really quite simple – you have a child, you become a mom, and you are automatically enlisted in the Motherhood Club. Boom. Done. Simple as that. There are no prerequisites, either. You don’t have to accomplish a certain list of tasks or check off a certain number of milestones or goals before becoming a mother. Once you’re a mother you don’t have to sweep the previous years of your life under some rug and hide them. Becoming a mother is just another chapter in our lives. It does not cancel out anything that happened beforehand and it does not mean that certain things are then off limits going forward.
We’re still people. We still have our own likes, dislikes, hobbies, thoughts, and ideas. We’re just now also responsible for tiny people and helping them navigate this thing called life. Teaching them to be kind, honest, open-minded, and unique. It’s our job to help them find themselves and their way in this world and embrace their individuality. Maybe being a tattooed mom gives us a little edge on that one. 😉
Follow Gylisa Jayne on Instagram and be sure to bookmark her blog, too!
