by Betsy Shaw posted in Parenting

I've been a mom for 15 years. This once completely alien identity -- mother -- is now so deeply ingrained in me I'm not sure I'll ever recover.  Sure, I tried early on to pretend that I would never "succumb" to motherhood -- that motherhood would never define me, nor dictate my life's path. I have three things to say about that now: Ha. Ha. Ha!

In a recent moment of clarity, it occurred to me that motherhood has marked me for life, in more ways than I can count. But, if I were to actually try to count, here's what the list might look like.
1. You are over 40 and use the words "like" and "awesome," more than once per day.
2. You turn your head every time you hear a child's voice calling "mom" in random places, even when you aren't together with your child. 3. You accidentally refer to your husband as "Daddy," even when not talking to your kids, a lot.
4. Your pillow cases are hand-painted, by children, and they don't match and you don't care.
5. Every room of the house still has art supplies, beads, and a Barbie or Lego piece hiding in it somewhere even though your kids are spending way more time with their handheld gadgets than they are with their dozens and dozens of colored pencils.

7. Even though you haven't bought any in years, there is some evidence of glitter in every room of the house.
8. Your car has stickers on the window(s). I'm not talking window decals, I'm talking stickers,...