This year I want an Apple Watch for Mother's Day----the most expensive gift I've ever asked for since being a Mom....and I REALLY want it.
I even sent a group text to Kyleigh and her Dad-I giggled the whole time writing it.
This has been the hardest year of Mothering for me.
No late night drama.
No back talk
NO rolling of the eyes...
No Leaving dishes in the sink...
No coming home late....
No bad grades and teacher conferences....
No teenage drama-NONE.
I didn't MOTHER this year.
"I DID NOT MOTHER this YEAR".....does that sentence even make sense?
Now---I know what most of you are thinking ----
"Melissa you are always mother'ing---we never stop....our kids will always need us...."
I hear you! I know you are right. In my right mind I KNOW you are right.
But in my Empty Nest Mind----you are not correct.
I was not needed this year in the same ways. Sure...I got asked 524186 times what her Social Security number was, BY HER! (haha)
I got phone calls telling me how good her food was at the dining hall...
I even got phone calls thanking me for teaching her how to do "stuff..."
I didn't get to over hear her telling a friend "it will be ok---Jesus loves you and understands..."
I didn't get to yell at her ONCE!!! Not once did I get to ask her about her homework.
OH and NOT ONCE----NOT even once did I get to get angry at her PHONE use.
I never got to pick up her laundry.
Mothering was different this year.....NO one tells you how HARD it will be....yes---we are told how sad it can be and how much you will miss the kids. BUT MOTHERING WILL BE HARD!
No--I was never told that.
Hearing your kid figure stuff out WITHOUT your input can be gut wrenching---I felt it--I know.
Hearing your kid say "Mom I need to see you...." is sweet (yes) but not when it's a 10 hour drive. (thank you Chris for flying her out that weekend...you'll never know what it did for our souls...)
Hearing her say "I need to seek out some older women---I need older women in my life, they are good for me..."
"Wait I'm an OLDER WOMAN..."....raising my hand like a 1st grader...!
"I'm old and stuff.....SEEK ME OUT!!!"
Mothers "Mother'ing" today...this week.....this year.
.....MOTHER....
Mother the crap out of your kids!!!
I know that's a little blunt----but GO ALL IN....Don't apologize for it. Be goofy....TALK TO THEM..ask them questions...MOST of ALL---listen to their sweet voices....watch the eye rolls. Smell the dirty clothes. M O T H E R!!!!!
oh and don't compare your MOTHERING....it WILL take you away from MOTHER'ING before you know it.....all you are doing is watching and not DOING.
Maybe one day YOU will also want an AppleWatch...because you just feel like getting through the first year of NOT Mothering is a miracle!
Maybe you won't----and that's ok....I just needed to write about!
Happy Mother's day.....now go out there and MOTHER!!!
