I’ll be celebrating seven years of motherhood this July. Seven years of being a stay-home mom. And probably seven years of breastfeeding, if my 3-year-old is not weaned by then (click to read more about my extended breastfeeding journey).

In these seven years, I’ve gone through many ups and downs, learnt about what it means to be a mother at the A&E department, took a major lesson in faith, learnt to look beyond the present, taken countless mommy guilt trips in my mind, re-discovered the world through their little eyes, screamed my lungs out like a mad woman, and loved with an intensity never known to me, before I became a mom.

Recently, the topic about stay-home moms came up again in the media and there was even discussion about our net worth. I’ve written about the dollars and sense of being a stay-home mom some time back and the ‘old’ me would probably jump at the topic again and try to reiterate that whatever it is that I’m doing as a stay-home mom should be recognised.

The ‘new’ me says, I’m not gonna get my panties in a bunch because of what people say.

My net worth is not for someone who isn’t anybody to me to validate or assess or even to discuss. I know what I’m worth. My family knows what I’m worth, to them. Who cares what others think of my worth?

So that’s me and how motherhood has transformed me in these seven years.

I used to be very bothered by what people said about this and that, about why I shouldn’t stop work, about whether I should breastfeed, about how long I should breastfeed, about how I’m breastfeeding too long, about how worthless my milk is after the first year of their lives, about whether I should feed food with more taste to my babies, about whether I actually feed my kids since they are so skinny, about why my kids should be sent to this school or that, or why they didn’t attend school, and the list could go on forever.

At some point of all these, I just learnt that people will judge (and I’ve done my fair share, for which I’m sorry for) – no matter what you say or do, there’ll always be somebody that will have something negative to say. (I’ve learnt many lessons since I’ve become a mom and I’ve shared my top five lessons previously on the blog).

I’ve come to realise that you know, motherhood is a whole package deal – the sleepless nights in the early days that come with that toothless grin, the tantrums of the Terrible Twos and the Terrifying Threes that accompany the hugs and kisses, the headaches that come with school-going children also come together with immense pride at how much the children have grown and matured (check out my ongoing series chronicling our Journey through Primary 1).

As moms, we have got much on our own plates. With different family dynamics and diverse situations, the one thing that we do in common – we do what’s best for our children and family.

And that’s the essence of motherhood.

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Other related posts that may interest you:

• My Guest Post series Tips for Moms – By Moms
• SAHM Survival Guide Part 1: Cooking
• SAHM Survival Guide Part 2: Cleaning & Chores
• SAHM Survival Guide Part 3: Fitting Teaching & Playing with Kids into the Schedule

This post is part of a Blog Train hosted by Dominique at Dominique’s Desk. Hop on the train to hear other moms share about embracing motherhood.

Next up on the blog train is Adora from Gingerbreadmum. Adora is mum to two very energetic and very loud kids and when not nursing her eardrums, can be found hiding with a bar of chocolate at the laundry area. In her post, she will share her humorous yet accurate take on motherhood. From shushing kids on the bus to losing touch with friends, from taking too many photos to private toilet time, you can read it all here.