Is it EVER going to be done?! This raising of kids? My nest is empty, but I’m not finsihed being a mom.

There’s a slew of ladies at my office (the ‘young-guns’ I call them) having babies. It does seem to come in waves…and sometimes I just want to look deep into their eyes and say, “….it never ends…go back! Run! Forrest! Run!” But then I see the glow in their eyes and remember the excitement and I keep my thoughts to myself. Well, ok, I put them here, but I didn’t say them into the GLOW. It’s too late any way.

And I remember the delight of watching my kids grow up, the things they discovered, the things they taught me. New eyes seeing old things. And I wouldn’t trade that…

Sometimes it’s just pure pleasure to have adult children…and sometimes….well sometimes they are still the kids and you’re still the mom. And even adult children can be brats. (OK, moms can be brats too but not as often!)

And sometimes it hurts being a mom.

All the things you worry about…are they happy, did I teach them the right things, was I a good mom …who will take care of me when I can’t take care of myself? (And that’s a WHOLE other blog post for much later!)

But really, my point is, you don’t ever get to quit being a mom. Even if sometimes you may want to.

I think you change (grow up) and the relationship changes (maybe more than any other relationship you ever have), but you’re still the mom.

And now you have to learn to be a diplomat too. And a friend. And to keep your mouth shut sometimes. And to wait….to wait until it’s their time. Their time to find their own way, their own feet, their own place in the scheme of things. And sometimes that waiting is hard.

And sometimes, you just wish they were still little enough to protect…..or to spank when they are misbehaving…or to tuck them safely in their bed at night like back when you delusionally thought you had some control.

Someone should have told me..it takes a long time to raise kids…to be a mom….maybe forever!