I was twenty-four when I took my first pregnancy test.

Newly married living in a city far from friends and relatives, I had just started my masters degree and landed a teaching job in one of Cleveland's most sought after school districts.  My free time was spent picking out window treatments for our teeny tiny bungalow when I found out I was pregnant.  I still remember the exact thought that had crossed my mind a minute after seeing those pink lines form.  Instead of "Yay! My husband and I are going to have a baby."  I thought, "My mother is going to kill me."  You see, I was a very mature twenty-four year old still emotionally dependant on her own mother. Ahem.

Needless to say, my mother was elated when I called on her birthday and formally addressed her as "grandma."  She welcomed me into the sisterhood of mothers by rambling on about how beautiful motherhood was.  The joy!  The laughter!  The rewards!  The love!  And all I could think of was.  But I'm too young!  I have a degree to finish!  I just got my dream job!  I have no friends to hold my hand!  I am only twenty-four!  And gah, please don't let me end up staying at home driving a minivan in Ohio!  I can't do this!  Not now!!  Not yet!!!  My windows are naked!

At twenty-five my life changed forever when my first born made me a mother.

Now at thirty-two my hands and heart are filled with Joy! Laughter! Rewards! Love! times three with a sprinkling of Chaos! Tears! Arguments! times three.  Some days I laugh and others I cry.  I don't think I would've ever been really ready for the selfless ups and downs of motherhood.

However, I wouldn't trade it now even for the most well dressed windows.  Although I did see the most delicious dupioni silk drapes with adorable pom-pom trimmings the other day. These loves of mine are keepers.

Now it is time for you to join in- You are invited to log onto www.thankyoumom.com and enter to win a travel voucher to help cover the cost of a special reunion with their mom or mom figure in their life.  Contest entrants must submit a 100 word essay describing why they’d like to be united with their mom.  Approximately 15 winners will be chosen every month through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Be sure to vote on your favorite entries for the Thank You Mom Reunions here.

This post is part of the P&G Thank You Mom Reunion Campaign through Blissful Media Group.