Motherhood - 4 Ways Photography Challenge

When I think about Motherhood, the words bonding, unconditional love, responsibility and Once a mom, always a mom, are echoing in my mind. I am a mother of two lovely boys (well, to be more specific, a tween and a teenager), and I have the sweetest mom in the world, whom I cherish and look up to.
Motherhood - being a mom, establishing an emotional relationship to your child, loving him / her unconditionally, is a continuous process of growing and maturing, as we go along. Our childhood experiences are shaping our expectations of motherhood - How do we percieve the role of a mom?
During pregnancy everything is getting more real, and all of a sudden you are holding this precious baby in your arms, overwhelmed with the feeling of responsibility - wondering how on earth are you're going to take care of this unique gift you're given?
 As the days go by, you experience that motherhood is about learning to know your child and learning to know yourself as a mom for this specific child. And the process keeps going on - your child and you're developing side by side. Each child is unique and has specific gifts, needs and challenges.   When I've been talking with adoptive mothers, their experiences are much alike - besides that the process of getting approved as an adoptive parent can be hard and overwhelming because of the doubt and the fear of not meeting the qualifications, and due to other unknown factors in the process. But when the daily life with the long-awaited child has begun, they're also in the same boat - learning to know their precious child, and learning to be a mom.    Motherhood is also about letting go - giving place for your child to become more independent, starting with the "terrible two's" ... I remember the spring when our oldest son was about to start pre-school and our youngest son was starting in the kindergarden - I was feeling blue, like a hen, whose chicks we're about to fly from the nest. On the other hand, it was a pleasure to be able to say to a 4 year old son once in a while: "Just wait a minute, I need to think about that - vividly remembering  that the needs of a baby and a toddler are to be met right away.   Well, it is a pleasure to experience that as the children grow, your relationship and the things you do together with them changes as well. Moreover, you're beginning to appreciate the fact that you're getting more time to do things as a couple and also more time for yourself.  After the teenager years, when your child has learned to be more independent  and when you as a mother have let your child manage more and more by him / herself, the relationship between a mom and a child is about to change to a more equal friendship, with a special emotional affection and respect,  on the fundament of all the shared moments - as a mom and a child. To sum up my thoughts on Motherhood, I'd like to share with you a favorite poem of mine:  On Children Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Kahlil Gibran  Which words or images come to your mind, when you hear the word Motherhood? Share them with us on our mothly blog hop, details below, Nina :::   :::   :::  Welcome to the 4 Ways Photography Challenge:Our theme in May is Motherhood
4 Ways Photography Challenge is a monthly creative meme, 
where we wish to challenge you and one another in finding 4 ways of photographing the monthly themes:June 20th: In My Town
August 15th: Capturing Negative Space
4 Ways is hosted by 4 friends - all photo enthusiasts, who wish to share the joy of finding new insights and skew anglesin photographing the world around us, embracing everyday life with a camera at hand.
4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone!