As I watch dear friends send their babies off to college, I’ve been surveying deep into the ‘ol memory vaults of my own children and I’m struck to an even greater level with how precious and fleeting our time with our children is.
I read a blog post the other day and it so inspired me. I can’t find her again but below are a few excerpts of her thoughts. I added and deleted and personalized. I know this is a no-no in the blogosphere of political correctness but alas I lost her name. I hope she somehow runs across this to see how she inspired me and that her story is so similar to a mom’s heart globally, that all of us moms need only tweak a few words and change the photos and our stories are basically the same!
From the moment I became a mother, I’ve been charged with protecting my children.
I removed all objects from the crib. Put them to sleep on their back instead of their stomach. I scheduled immunizations. Safety latches were installed on kitchen cabinets and all cleaning supplies found a new home up high. I plugged all the outlets with covers, put gates around areas that seemed unsafe, and installed locks on all the windows. For years my children didn’t swim at the pool without my watchful eye. Even bath time included my watchful eye. I cut their food into minuscule pieces and distributed daily vitamins. When it rained at a soccer game or school picnic, I wrapped my arms around tiny shoulders, absorbing the cold so they didn’t suffer.
Though the bus stop is only past the end of the driveway (this is the first year my son has ever even taken the bus) I watch out the window, because you never know when a predator could be lurking.
I advocated with teachers, volunteered in the classroom, sent them to school with healthy lunches and surprised them with impromptu lunch dates in the school cafeteria. Dental checkups and physicals were scheduled every six months and twelve months, respectively. I reviewed homework, enforced a decent bed time, applied Neosporin, took temperatures with a cheek and thermometer, shared difficult conversations about sex and drug use. I purchased safety equipment when they began their adventures of snowboarding, long boarding, bike riding, and climbing the 25 foot trees in the park.
In spite of rolling eyes, I initiated discussions on integrity, choosing friends carefully and the importance of hard work. At times I doled out consequences in an effort to protect them from future consequences far worse than a day or two without Xbox. I taught them to drive, to setup a tent, to start a fire, to make a bed, scramble eggs, pick up after themselves, slice an apple without slicing their fingers, write thank you notes, say “I love you” even when angry, and to share their toys.
I tried to make sure they would have a good sense of humor by occasionally packing random items like dog biscuits in their lunches, sticking rocks in the foot of their bed for a bedtime surprise, short sheeting them, throwing food on them or dousing them with cold water in the shower. Much to my chagrin they have learned this skill well. They are stronger, faster and smarter than me now and I am climbing into bed only to find strange objects and well THEY HAVE LEARNED WELL!
I have made sure to teach them the importance of prayer and relationship with their heavenly Father, to have devotional time and to learn to find Him on their own. To treat others as they wish to be treated.
For a long time it’s been my job to protect my children, to buy them time to grow up and learn how to thrive on their own. This is what has consumed my life for more than a decade and heading towards two decades. This is what I dreamed of before I held my first born and then my second born in my arms. And this is what makes my next chapter of mothering the most difficult part:
“Letting go, the final frontier of their childhood. These are the voyages of the mother’s heart. Her 18+year mission: to prepare and free her children to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” Ha thanks Captain James T. Kirk
I was watching this video this morning and in closing wanted to add these words:
"You can't lose me
"Bet your life
"I am here and I will always be
"Just a wish away
"Wherever you go
"No matter how far
"My love is where you are
"You won't be lost if you believe
"You can't lose me"
YOUCANTLOSEME
