The vocation of motherhood

When I talk about motherhood as a vocation some stir at me in a puzzled way. Others very openly ask what I mean with vocation. Vocation is a call, mainly related to God. God calls us to different things. Being a doctor is also a vocation. Being a normal worker in a common job is also a vocation. Since God can call us any time in life and in any situation. But even when I talk to my friends and relatives who haven’t met God and say therefore they don’t believe in God I can still talk of a vocation to be a mother or father.

As parents we are the living examples for our children of what is important in life, what’s right or wrong, not so much with what we say but with what we do. Therefore to strive to be shining examples might sound too much but in the end that is what we all would like to be for our children, for the next generation and for others.

As a mother I’m not only an example for my children but also an educator. Three months ago we moved and our children got vacancies to start at a nursery in the area. My husband and I didn’t think the nursery had the required quality and therefore decided not to send them there. Since we didn’t get any other vacancies our 5 and almost 3 year old boys are at home with me.

I soon felt I wanted to make something extra out of it. So I planed a weekly schedule with “nursery” activities (calendar, story telling, singing, going to the woods and meeting children of their age). Shortly I realized the big task in my hands, being not only a mother to them but also an educator. Making them learn not because they have to but because it’s fun.

Together with learning the months and days and weather and numbers, and so much there is to learn I have introduced the life of prayer to them. Something that gives them serenity and the sense that there is something greater than ourselves.