photo courtesy of Kiki Comin
There are amazing, devoted, wonderful, deliberate mothers out there, and each week we’ll spotlight one of them here at The Power of Moms. Do you know a mom who deserves a little time in the spotlight? Email rachelle.price (at) powerofmoms.com. We can’t wait to meet her.
Introducing Kiki Comin
How many children do you have and what are their ages?
I have three beautiful children and one on the way (only 10 weeks to go…yay!). My oldest boy is 7 1/2, second boy is 5, first girl is 2 1/2 and the baby will be a boy. Us girls are FAR too outnumbered.
What have been your favorite parts of motherhood?
My favorite moments in motherhood are when I don’t take it too seriously. The days when I walk in my bedroom and my nice work computer has marker all over the screen and all over the desk and my heart sinks to my toes…and then I hear a little “Look Mommy, I’m helping you work.” And you can’t get mad at that, so you take a picture and thank the forces of the universe that you have only bought washable markers for your house! There are days when I go from cleaning poop up in one bathroom, then run to another to find it smeared all over the wall. All I really want to do is cry, but I call my husband, and he giggles…and then I can see that all it takes is a little bit of bleach and a cloth and it is cleaned up. Some of my favorite moments are sitting in my room at night, catching up on the days’ emails and orders and hearing my little girl belting out song after song in her bed, interspersed with giggles coming from my boys’ rooms. Those are some of the moments my heart smiles and I thank God that He let me be a mother.
What have been the hardest parts of motherhood for you?
By far the hardest thing about mothering so far has been to watch my children fail at something. I know you are thinking: “Your oldest is only 7; how much can they fail?!” But failure happens in so many ways. My kids (at least my oldest two) have set very high expectations for themselves in EVERY situation they are in, and when their little hearts break because they didn’t perform like they thought they should have, it kills me. And yet I know, because of experiences in my own life, how vital it is to let your kids fail, so that when they succeed, they can truly feel the accomplishment that comes from it. I guess that is what I am learning in motherhood as well, that there are days when I fail and get some things wrong, but there are also days I do it right, and luckily my kids are forgiving and look right past my mistakes.
What has surprised you about motherhood?
Honestly, and I hope this doesn’t sound bad, but I was REALLY surprised how much I loved being a mom right off the bat! I was never a girl who loved babysitting (it was NEVER worth the money to me), and so I was honestly scared that I would have similar feelings when I had my first little boy. Luckily, I was SO far from wrong. Motherhood has shown me my weaknesses (sometimes they are blinding!) and my children have helped me see strengths that I never knew I had. I love being a mom more than anything in this world.
What have you learned from motherhood? Please share a specific story or incident that really taught you something.
This question has been on my mind for a few weeks now. I had an experience just a little bit ago that has taught me so much, especially as I look back on it. My little 7-year-old really wanted to run in his first 5k race this summer. I wanted a good and consistent running buddy, and he became just that. We worked him up and trained him for his race and toward the end, he became much faster than me! (Give me a little break…I was about 15 weeks pregnant at the time.) When the time came closer to race day, he made it clear he wanted his dad to run the race with him. I was a little surprised, but not too much considering just how much he adores his dad (and I knew he could push him better than I could). On the race day, he was nervous, but super excited. I didn’t get to see him the entire race until the end, and when he rounded the corner for the last stretch to the finish line, we were all cheering. His brother and sister couldn’t have been prouder. And seeing his little body run his race in 28 minutes, I couldn’t have been prouder either. As he came back to see us after the race, his little brother ran up to him and gave him a huge hug and told him how awesome he had done.
photo courtesy of Kiki Comin
This experience has made me think so much about mothering. I am the lucky and blessed “trainer” who gets to introduce my kids to new things, watch them struggle, teach, teach, teach, and watch them get stronger. Just when I think I get to actually go “run the race” with them, they remind me that it is not my job. With my training in their minds, they will choose others who will push them even more. I get to cheer them on, correct them when I need to, be there for them to support and lift them up, and in the end, tell them how awesome and amazing they are. I will watch them succeed and become the people they will push themselves to be and to me, this will be one of the greatest accomplishments of MY life. Mothering is work. It is hard and consistent and unrelenting. It is also the most amazing “job” in the whole world. I get to wake up every morning and go to the work in the job I love more than anything…and it is only two steps from my bed!
What would you say are the most important things a mom can do? What would you say are the most important things for a mom NOT to do?
I have always been a person who loves to tell someone that I love them. I think every child needs to hear it AND needs to be shown it. I think as long as a child truly knows you love them, many things fall right into place. I hope my children, as they look back, will remember how much their mom and dad LOVED them and lived and sacrificed for them.
I learn new things all of the time of what I should NOT do. Just this week, I was taught over and over again not to compare my children. What one child can do, one may not be able to. What one child struggles at, the other may be perfect at. We all do the best we can with what we have been given and try to improve on it each day. And that is how I want to nurture each of my children and what I want to remind them of every day.
What are some unique and interesting aspects of your family or your approach to mothering?
Really and honestly, I don’t think I am unique in my mothering skills in many ways. I truly feel blessed to have had such awesome examples of mothers in my life (my mother, my mother-in-law and amazing friends) whom I watch and learn from. They help me be a better mother by being amazing moms.
