Being a mom can be extremely tasking, but it is also super rewarding. We all have things that stretch us to our limits, but let me tell you, motherhood takes the cake! As a mother, I have been stretched to my limits in ways I never thought possible. But, despite the difficulties, I can confidently say that motherhood has been the most demanding and fulfilling journey of my life. Over the past three-plus years, I have had to learn, unlearn and relearn a lot of things. I am still growing as a young mother and have a lot of learning to do in order to be the best mother I know I can be. As a lifelong learner, that’s what makes the journey ahead exciting, yeah?

Let me ask you this question: what are some of the unexpected “hats” you’ve had to wear as a parent??

Whoops! Personally, I never thought I’d have to add illustrator to my list of job titles as a mum. But here we are, my friends 😅😅 My boy is a visual learner. He loves it when information is presented to him in pictures, and he learns things quicker this way. He also loves colouring. As Christians, hubby and I are very intentional about introducing him early to the word of God. Thankfully, my church has lots of weekly interactive resources for kids, except that these weekly lessons are compiled into a booklet containing lessons for a quarter of the year. I tried using the booklet with him; however, my little guy would want to colour all the lessons in the booklet at once, treating it like a colouring book 😃😃

One day, I had an idea. I decided to try something different. I wrote out vital aspects of his weekly lesson and drew a sketch on a sheet of coloured paper. When my son saw my sketch, he was over the moon with excitement! 😂😂 Noticing this, I quickly grabbed some crayons. At his young age, his attention span is pretty short, so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Within the few minutes that I had while he coloured the sketch, I narrated the lesson to him in a way I knew he could understand. It was so much fun.

After he coloured the sketch, he proudly took his “work of art” to show his dad feeling very accomplished. Of course, his father lavished him with praises 🤣🤣 The next day, during devotion time, our little boy ran to where he placed his painting and brought it out. Then he ran to me, climbed on my lap and signalled me to read out his key verse to him. I read it out to him while he smiled all through. The joy I felt was unquantifiable. It was so heartwarming to see him engaged and excited about learning the word of God. He continued like this for the days following.

Another hat I have had to wear effortlessly is that of a last-minute baker (though this one wasn’t completely unexpected). My son recently turned three. The days leading to his birthday were hectic for me, so I decided we have a nice dine-out birthday party for him. The day before his birthday, he kept singing to himself, ‘happy birthday to me…’. He was trying to pass a message to me 😅😅 but I acted as if I didn’t understand his signals.

In his little mind, it was a day to his birthday, and he hadn’t seen a birthday cake 🤣🤣. I can imagine that in his little mind, he thought singing the birthday song loudly would be a reminder. When he saw I didn’t get the message he tried to pass across all day, he walked up to me in the evening and said, ‘Mummy, cake!’. I smiled at him and assured him that I had heard his request. Afterwards, he switched his song from ‘happy birthday to me…’ to ‘cake, cake, cake…’

Pretty soon, it was bedtime, and there was still no cake. As I tucked him into bed, I couldn’t help but think how often we are like him. We have needs and take our requests to God. God knows our needs, but sometimes, he acts like he hasn’t heard us. We keep wondering why he hasn’t responded immediately or why we aren’t seeing results, whereas he already has a plan in place to meet our needs – we just don’t know how his plan would unfold.

My son went to bed thinking I had forgotten to make his birthday cake. Admittedly, the days leading to his birthday were very busy, but I knew that there was no way he was going to have a cake-less birthday.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but YOU NEED TO REST IN GOD AND TRUST HE HAS AMAZING PLANS FOR YOU – even when you can’t see them. He is aware of your needs and is working things out for you!

On the morning of the birthday, I woke up before the sun to make his birthday cake a reality. It took just a few hours, and it was sorted out. The look on his face seeing his birthday cake when he woke up was priceless!!! Actually, he got more than a cake. The hours spent making it was also spent praying into his future: that God will make it sweet, beautiful and fruitful ❤️

POV: When you have a mum who is ‘extra,’ and she makes your birthday cake. Yes, you get to eat a cake…and yes, you get to eat your fruits too!!! 🤣🤣 We are keeping things healthy around here.

These are two out of so many hats I’ve had to wear as a mum. So, back to you… What unexpected hats have you had to wear while raising your little ones? Share your stories in the comments below! Let’s swap tales and hear all the interesting parenting hats we’ve had to wear.

PS: I recently started a weekly newsletter for mums. It’s a place where I share valuable resources to help you make the most of your motherhood experience. Check it out 😊

Categories: My lifestyle

Tags: Intentional living, intentional parenting, many hats of motherhood, Motherhood, Parenting, Productivity, surprises in motherhood