10 Real Joys of Being a Mother

What are the rewarding joys of being a mother?

Being a mother can be an incredibly rewarding role. There are so many joys in being a mother, but sometimes you might lose sight of that on the hard days with out of control tantrums and endless diapers.

Be encouraged by this list of joys of being a mother to remind yourself of how rewarding it really is to be a mother. Leave a comment below to share with others what your favourite thing is about being a mother.

There are so many amazing things about being a mother, but it is important to acknowledge that it is not your child’s job to make you happy. Of course, your children definitely do make you happy, but always remember it’s not their job to do so. If you start putting the expectation on your kids to make you happy it can hurt them a lot in the long run.

So with that disclaimer, let’s dig into the joys of being a mother!

1. Grow as an individual person

Motherhood really pushes you to grow as a person because you have to stretch yourself many times to become the best mother you can be for your child.

You might grow because you have to learn better time management, quitting smoking, or because you have to overcome your anger and impatience, but whatever it may be, you will definitely grow.

As a parent, you have to be a role model for your child and think about how you want them to treat others. This can really make you think about your own behaviour and the kind of role model you want to be, which in turn makes you grow to be a better person.

2. Watching your child learn and grow

One major joy of motherhood is to get to watch your child learn and grow. From first words and first steps, to the day they learn how to drive. It’s amazing seeing their life and personality take shape and to see the amazing person they become.

3. Laughter and fun times

Having a kid can mean you have lots of laughter and fun in your life. Silly games can be fun and cathartic for parents.

You might get caught up in the stress of everyday life, but it’s always good to take a step back and engage with your child’s play and have fun together. It’s a very healthy thing to do.

4. See the world differently

Before you have kids you might look at the world mostly in ways that it affects you alone, but once you have kids you see the world outside of that selfish lens.

For example, many parents become passionate about climate change because of their kids.

You can also start to see the world differently because of the questions children ask, which often challenge the status quo.

5. Knowledge expands

Being a mother often means you get to engage with your child’s interests and learn things totally new to you too.

Maybe your kid is obsessed with dinosaurs and you end up learning all the names of dinosaurs, or you do science projects together and learn new things.

Your knowledge might also expand because you want to learn more about babies and children. Many mothers study to become doulas because becoming a mom made them passionate about birth and newborns.

6. Passing on your passions for justice

It’s amazing to be able to pass on a desire for justice to the next generation, whether that be for BLM, MMIW, climate change, prison reform, hunger and food insecurity, gender pay gap, etc.

As a parent you are able to raise your child to be aware of these issues and stand up for justice, ultimately reshaping the future of the world.

7. Fun activities

Having kids means you get an excuse to do some really fun activities if you want to. You can take your kids to a petting zoo, go to an amusement park, play with playdough – all sorts of fun activities that might traditionally be for “kids” but adults can enjoy it too.

Releasing your childhood wonder can bring more fun to your life if you are able to appreciate the fun activities your kids get to do.

8. Chance to express creativity

One amazing joy of being a mother is that you can unleash your creative side, even if you don’t feel like you’re very good at it.

Some parents are amazing at creating fun crafts to do with their kids (here’s a list of crafts you could try). Other parents really love pretend play and acting out little stories with their kids. Some parents even become published authors after writing down the stories they used to tell to their kids.

9. Learning to validate your own feelings

As a parent it’s really easy to learn how to validate your child’s feelings, it is even one of the 6 pillars of gentle parenting and you can learn more about it here.

Once you learn how valid your child’s feelings are though, you might start to realize that your feelings are valid and important too.

All feelings are valid, it’s just a matter of everyone learning more to express their feelings appropriately (adults and children alike).

Learning to validate your own feelings and to accept them can be extremely healing if in the past you invalidated your feelings.

10. Sharing your culture

It is so wonderful to be able to share and pass down your culture with the next generation. Language, recipes, clothing, dances, traditional ceremonies, etc are all wonderful things to be able to pass down to children to teach them about who they are and the people they are descended from.

Sharing your culture with your children can also give you the opportunity to get more in touch with your culture and have a deeper respect for it. This is an amazing joy of being a mother!

Conclusion on the Joys of Being a Mother

These are just 10 examples of the joys of being a mother, but there are so many more. What brings you the most joy about being a mother? Make sure to share in the comments below to inspire others who might be having a hard day (or month) as a mom.