I am a Mom. It is all that I wanted to truly be for as far back as I can remember. I not only wanted to be a mother, but I dreamt of a large family. I loved the thought of the commotion and chaos. I married a man several years older than myself and he had warned me that at the age of 40 he would be finished having children no matter what. With that, I managed to have my 4 children in a very short span of 6 years. My last child was born after I turned 30 and before my husband turned 40. I had 3 boys and a girl. Perfect.
My children as of now are 16, 14, 12 and 10 years of age. I have been involved in public school, private school as well as nearly 8 years of homeschooling. My boys have played numerous sports and my husband has coached through the years allowing me to experience soccer, t-ball, baseball, lacrosse, wrestling and football. My daughter is a dancer and myself a dance instructor. Our house has been home to 4 dogs, 1 cat, 2 guinea pigs, 1 rabbit as well as a stray squirrel over the past 16 years. We are a busy family with a lot going on…all of the time.
Throughout my 16 years of motherhood, I have experienced an incredible amount of what I will call “happenings”. I used to tell my best friend, if something is going to happen – it’s going to happen to me. I’m a stuff magnet of sorts. My husband disagrees. He feels that the more people you have in a family and the more activities that they are all involved in; it just increases your chances of “things” happening. I’ve called my mother through the years – let’s face it – I call my mother nearly daily with some “story” to share about her grandchildren. She answers the phone and I say…”SO! Guess what happened today?”
It appears that once the kids enter those teenage years – the stories change from being “cute and anecdotal” to anywhere from heartbreaking to hysterical as we all find our way through adolescence. I am certain that a great number of our family stories are relatable on many levels to most parents. After all, parenting is universal and parenting teenagers is not for sissies. Stop and think back to when you were a teenager….
…Yeah. See what I mean?
