Something like that

I don’t know about you but for me, I never read any of the pregnancy books when I was pregnant with our three daughters. I didn’t attend lamaze classes or any classes for that matter. I went to all my doctor appointments but that’s all. Not that there is anything wrong with the books or the classes but it just wasn’t my thing. I never read the book  “What To Expect when You’re Expecting.” But I can guarantee you one thing….even though I didn’t read any of the books or attend any of the classes, I am a great Mom, I do my best. I  get told frequently and well, I guess it’s time after all these years to believe my girls when they tell me. We have three girls ages seventeen, fifteen and six. Our seventeen year old will be eighteen in a matter of six and a half to seven months. Our fifteen year old will be sixteen in less than a month and our six year old will be seven in three months.

So where am I headed with this you ask? In circles haha…not really. Although, if you’re a parent, you feel like you’re running in circles at times…lots of times. I was taking our oldest daughter to work the other day and it hit me, almost to tears actually. I must admit, I feel a lump in my throat as I write this now. But, she’s almost a legal adult for goodness sakes!!  Our middle daughter has a year and a half until she’s eighteen and our youngest is helping me hang on to my sanity at least a little bit because she won’t be eighteen for another eleven years. But, what happens when they grow up and move out? Our girls go to their grandparents for a week during the summer. This year when they went, I stayed at home, cleaned and watched a gazillion series on Netflix. Oh and napped, I never nap but boy did I while they were at their grandparents haha. Anyways, I started thinking, Ok, so now what? The house will be perfectly clean, all the the laundry caught up, I’ll go to bed at a decent time. Yada, yada, yada.But, where will all the fun conversations be? Where will all the funny stories be, the snapchat pictures, the jokes, the movie watching??

Those books may prepare you for some things but when a child moves out…whoa. Now some of you may be ecstatic and cheer and celebrate when your children move out but for me, well, I don’t know…my husband works a lot being in medicine. Maybe I will just make a room my office and throw myself into my writing. It’s hard to let go of a job you’ve done for eighteen years. If you have children you know it is a job. Lots of compromise, lots of tears, lots of sacrifices. But, you have tons of laughs and good memories in the process. I guess I’m afraid I’ll be lonely…I’ll eat myself out of house and home, I’ll watch countless episodes on Netflix. I know now why people are known as the crazy cat ladies and get tons of cats. Well, crazy cat ladies unite…I get it, light bulb moment haha. I know, they have to grow up, you have to trust and know that you have done as good a job as you can do, that you have led them down the right path. You need to realize that you are human, your best is your best and no one can go against it.

They’ll go to college and graduate. They’ll meet the man/woman that God  has set for them and they will get married. They will have their own place and it will be fine. They themselves will have children.Look,  I doubt myself a lot. This past mother’s day, they gave me a card and it set a lot of my doubts and fears to the side. I needed that. But, we as parents need to know that we did and are doing the best that we can. If you visit them and they have socks and underwear all over the floor, it’s natural and doesn’t at all mean you’re a bad parent. I guess to make a long story short ( of course, this is a blog and the length doesn’t matter) It’s going to happen. At the end of the day, take it easy on yourself and remember you’re a good parent and you’re doing your best. I am having so much fun with our children that I didn’t realize how grown up they are becoming. But, I’m glad that God chose me to be their mom…I wouldn’t trade it for the world and even though that is major cliche’ to say, I mean every word.