A Mother's Role

When Emma was born, I never felt like I had a hard time stepping into the role of a mother. Newborn babies are pretty simple- make sure they are fed, clean and comfortable. Even the small teaching moments I have had with her like getting her to sleep through the night or teaching her that screaming doesn't get her food any faster, etc. seemed to come fairly naturally.

Ever since I weaned her(it has been 5 weeks or so), I have felt a little lost as a mom. I used to feel like I was so in tune with her needs and emotions, and could be there for those things. Now she gets around on her own pretty well, drinks by herself out of a sippy cup, and I don't have to hand feed her very many foods anymore. I actually feel pretty unnecessary, like just about anyone can do what I do for her. She has had the flu this past weekend, so she pretty much returned to a pretty helpless state, and she just wanted to cuddle and be held(which gave me lots of time to think). It got me thinking about what my role really is in her life.

"Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). I looked up the definition of "nurture" in the dictionary. There are three definitions:
1. to feed and protect
2. to support and encourage
3. to bring up; train; educate

When she was younger, maybe my nurturing role did just entail feeding and protecting her, but it changes over time as she grows and develops and her nurturing needs are different. Her newfound independence doesn't make me less necessary or less important, it just means that my role in her life makes a subtle change.