A Mother's Love

Last night I woke up after having yet another dream about adoption. Unlike the last adoption-based dream I had, this one involved us adopting about 10 kids...yeah, we're only planning on adopting one, lol.

In the dream the kids we had adopted were all from a sibling group, ranging in age from about 5 to 25 (at least 5 of the 10 kids were in their early to mid 20s). There was too much detail in the dream for me to go into, but there was one thing that stood out to me, so I thought I would share it with all of you.

At one point, one of the older children was sitting at the dinner table, and as I was walking away to do something, he called me a bad word - not one that I'm willing to write, lol. I don't know what provoked him to say it, but nonetheless, he did. I turned around and asked him what he said, to which he replied something along the lines of "nothing," but of course I knew better, so I repeated what he said, and he agreed that it was what came out of his mouth. Then I sent him to his room and told him that he is not to talk to his parents that way.

Ok, so maybe you're wondering why I'm sharing this, lol...What stood out to me about this incident was not that my child called me a bad name - it was that despite being mistreated, I still felt an overwhelming love for that child as well as all the others. I know that parents love their children despite the things their kids do, but of course I haven't had the chance to experience that in person yet. The dream was my first taste of it.

It also reminded me that raising a child adopted from the foster care system isn't going to be easy. We are already well aware that children in the public system have pasts that will have to be dealt with, and we are preparing for that and look forward to our classes which will teach us the best ways to deal with the various issues that may arise. These kids have been through a lot in such a short period of time - some have been through more than you or I may ever experience in our entire lifetime.

But there was one prominent feeling in the dream - love. Despite feeling overwhelmed at times in the dream and not knowing why I was being called a bad name, the love I felt for all these children was so strong, so true, so intense. They were my children, and I loved them no matter what.

Maybe it's a silly idea and maybe it's silly that a dream like that could leave me feeling so good. Not all parts of it make sense to me (like the idea of us having 10 kids, lol). But one thing makes perfect sense - a mother's love knows no bounds, and although I have always known that, I feel like last night I got my first taste of it - and I liked it. :)