J. Brooks Moms | Cami

“Enjoy the moment...you will miss these days”. When I became a mother fifteen years ago, this was the first time I really started to take note when I heard this phrase.

 

While those first years in mothering are a beautiful adjustment, I often felt overwhelmed like most moms do.  I juggled three babies while working as a registered nurse to put my husband through medical school. I felt guilty when I had to leave my babies with babysitters and nanny’s while I worked but funds were low and I knew my work provided me a way to make good money while only working 2-3 days a week. I remember after my third baby and after a long day of solo parenting because my husband was working long medical residency hours, I fell into bed in complete exhaustion. I lay there in the darkness and thought of all the things I felt I “wasn’t doing right”. I felt that pressure to do “more”, be “more” because I was often reminded how I “would miss these days.” I sat up in my bed, turned on the light, and I grabbed a nearby pen and paper and I wrote down all the moments I did enjoy that day and all the things I was doing right, ie.laughing with my kids, walking over to my sisters house, getting a couple loads of laundry done, calling my mom on the phone, reading books to my kids, watching them run around the playground, etc. It was in that moment that I began to create my own understanding of motherhood. I refused to think that I would have regrets or that I would look back and wish I had done more. I started to believe I was doing it...I WAS “enjoying the moment” however delightfully crazy it may have been some days.

I now have five kids and as I watch them grow and I enter new phases of motherhood, I recall fondly those days of babes in diapers, mommy & baby play dates, and celebrating all those little “first” milestones. Yet, I currently relish in kitchen dance parties, hearing all the drama from the school playground, and cheering my kiddos on as they develop in their talents & growing personalities.

 

My ring from J. Brooks is a band with five round diamonds. Those circles remind me of my most precious jewels, my children. It’s a piece of jewelry that every time I look at it, I remember how important it is to focus on and cherish moments with those I love most.

 

I wish every mother could see the beauty within their own journey and know that their role, like exquisite jewelry, is invaluable.

 

- Cami | J. Brooks Mom