When you become a parent, you don’t change completely.  You change, yes, but it’s more that being a parent becomes an aspect of you.  YOU do not change.  You are still yourself, fundamentally.  Even as parenting shapes you over time, you never lose yourself entirely.  Instead of trading in your old identity for the role of Mom, at your core, you remain exactly who you are.  Do not forget this.

I used to write poetry, among other things.  I happened upon a poem I wrote back in October.  I’d like to share it with you now, even though it has nothing to do with parenting.  It also seems fitting for Valentine’s Day weekend, though I’m not certain why:

Guns and Tulips

For you, the toughness is a season
Interwoven, the highest form
returning to that place when you are tired.

A rose by any other
you were not trying to attract me
nor attack, though in those days i felt it must be

I tried too well to find a logic
none in anthems, offered as a sort of
code language

why you couldn’t share it

I supply my own response:
Axl would be proud.

When you consider your accomplishments, what are you most proud of?  Is it your children?  That’s something to be proud of.  But if it’s something else, that’s fine too.  It’s more than just fine actually.  It’s wonderful.  Stay proud of your accomplishments and keep doing the things you love and that make you happy.

“Guns and Tulips” © 2014 Melanie E. Dunn.  All Rights Reserved.  Use Without the Author’s Consent is Strictly Prohibited.  As always.  Don’t be a jerk!

image: wikimedia commons