Were You Born A Mom Or A Rock Star? Or Both?

Carol Graham knows her calling was always to be a mom – and she rocked it! Read more from Carol on her blog, Battered Hope.

Some people are born salesmen.  Some are born rock stars. And then there are the born winners and of course…..the born losers.  I was born a mom.  This is something I realized only recently.

I have been a business woman longer than I have been a mom.  I have been self-employed since the 1970’s.  As much as I love the challenges of business; in my heart, I am a mom.

My own mother was quite ill when I was born and from a very young age I learned how to care for the sick.  I was her legs — running little errands for her when she could not.  I was her eyes – reading to her for hours when her head pain would not permit it.  I was her friend who cuddled with her to make her feel better.  When the suffering was too intense I was asked to leave the room so she could rest.  I would leave, crying.  I needed to make her better – thus my need to nurture was born.

Why do people call me Mom?  I don’t dress like a frumpy old lady.  I certainly don’t ‘think’ old and most of the time I act more like a kid than a grown woman. So….why am I called Mom?

Don’t know.  Don’t care.  What I do know is when someone needs to talk to someone about an intimate problem, I get a phone call.  When someone needs a shoulder to cry on, I get a phone call. When life becomes overwhelming or trauma strikes, I get a phone call.  I have learned how to listen. I know how to hug.  I cry when someone hurts and shout for joy when they win.  Isn’t this what being a mom is really about?

During the years I homeschooled my children and also ran my business from my home, I was often asked “What do you do?”  I could have responded by sharing something about my business but I loved this response instead.  “I am responsible for creating an environment of love, joy, peace, beauty and order in my home.  I am training a future citizen of America.  What do you do?”  

And as every woman who loves being a mom would tell you  — I would do ANYthing for my kids.  I would go ANYwhere to protect them.  No mom could love their children any more than I love mine. I was born a mom.

This same desire to nurture extended to dogs and over the past few decades, my husband, daughter and I have rescued numerous pets from certain death to a life where they were loved and nurtured to health.