You are 34, right? I keep having to recount by doing the year you were born math and we all know what Mom Math looks like.
Well, this was a big year, wouldn’t you say? As a recruiter, you have learned how to add working mom to your resume. Huge skill set! But you have absorbed the role into your life so naturally. Not easily, but with the grace and whole heart that you do all things.
The best part of you becoming a mom for me has been the moments when the light bulb goes on for you. Like this one:
In the long list of our daily correspondence about the happenings in our family and all the “how did he do last night?” texts, this one sticks out for me. There are moments in a parent’s journey that they can’t ever fully forget. Nor should they. A restaurant name shakes loose a particularly trying time. We revisit that time and have a knee-jerk reaction.
A non-parent child will sort of get it at best, or roll their eyes at worst. But after squeaking out a puppy, you completely understood this.
And yes. I loved that moment. And all the other moments, both wonderful and trying, in which I get to witness your parenting experience.
Life is surely different for you now. The new road has been a challenge. And yet every day you find another moment to prove what a wonderful mom you are. And share how much joy you can derive from even the smallest experience.
The juggle is real. Watching me do it may have prepared you for it. It is not always pretty but it is never boring.
I will end this post with my best parenting advise. No condition is permanent. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Use your intuition. Never say ‘my child will never ____”. Love every moment, even the shitty ones. And never say no to a grandparent when they offer to babysit!
May 34 bring you more joy than pain, and the ability to adjust the volume of each to make life the best it can be.
Love you to the moon, Petunes.
i could cry but i don't have time 