Ask any mother of a child who refuses to go to sleep at three in the
morning, while she has another on her breast, and she has to be at work
at nine in the morning—not to mention that her husband expects her to
be a temptress in bed and look beautiful for the world. Ask any father
who has to do homework with his inattentive son, constantly trying to
bring him back to task, while being on time to pick up another child from
soccer practice, before tackling work brought home from the office.
More than perhaps any other role, parenthood causes us to second-
guess ourselves. We question our competence, our worth, and even our
sanity as we ask ourselves, “Now, just why was it I thought I wanted
children, when all I want is for them to go to sleep and leave me alone?”
Having said this, if you can recognize the spiritual potential of the
parenting journey, you will be equipped to enter its depths without
resisting or becoming stuck in a state in which you are utterly
overwhelmed and confused as you attempt to grapple with its
complexities. For this reason, rather than feeling guilty about the
feelings that arise as you move along the path of raising a child, you are
asked to embrace the insanities of parenthood, capitalizing on the way
having a child opens you up—or rather tears you up, shreds your old
identity, and replaces it with an expansion of yourself.THE PARTICULAR ROLE OF THE MOTHER
Both parents undergo a transformation in their identity during the years
of raising children. However, for women the parenting journey holds an
especially emotional and spiritual significance because we house this
growing child within our body for the first nine months of its existence.