To many of you reading this you may say, "Duh? You have six (seven) children! Obviously you're not a young mother anymore!"
But I'll be honest, until this week, I kind of thought I still was. I thought other young mothers thought I was one of them. Sure, I had more kiddos, but we were all in the same boat, right?
No, I now see that we are not. I still have babies, but I'm not a "young mother" anymore. Sigh.
I went to a baby shower for a friend in my neighborhood, hosted by some other ladies in the neighborhood. This is her first baby and she is so excited. She already has a closet and drawers full of adorable clothes, shoes, blankets, and hair bows. That is what you can do with your first baby-- it is so fun to dress and doll them up. You can get the newest baby gadgets and everything is fresh and new.
There is a lot of stress involved with being a first time parent, so I DO NOT pine for those days. I truly am able to enjoy each subsequent baby more, because I know what to expect-- I know what is normal and I know how quickly the time will pass. But watching this friend and the other young moms with just a couple of children, I was reminded that my mindset is so much different than it was several years back. I suddenly saw just how much time has passed. I am older and I recognized that I am now considered a "more experienced mother".
When Clark and Bethany and Elinor were little we did little preschool activities and playgroups quite frequently. Faith and Cannon? Umm... yeah, not really anything.
But Faith has begged for a little book club so I racked my brain to think of little home school friends (her age) we could invite. Most of our home school family friends have older kids. I found I needed to extend our invites to a lot of "young mother families".
I don't think it makes you feel young to hang out with younger people. It made me feel old. Old and frumpy.
That aside, our first "Story Club" went very well this week. I don't have a lot of spare time, but it's hard to say no to this . . .
We read The Story About Ping. Ping is a duck, but I thought it would be fun to blow ping pong balls with a straw. And it was fun.
We played hide-and-seek and the kids took turns hiding our puppet duck, Ping. The other kids went behind the curtain to count to 20. That was hysterical to hear 7 little 2,3,4, and 5 years-olds trying to count in unison.
They tried to eat noddles with chopsticks.
Why are we surprised when we get older? It's not something I have feared, and yet I find myself stunned that it's actually happening.
What? There is another generation of young people? I thought we were it.
5 comments:
I LOVE getting older with you Sweetheart....and it honestly is just getting better.
I cannot imagine life without each of our eternally-ours children: Clark, Bethany, Elinor, Tessa, Faith, Cannon & George!
I know exactly what you are feeling. It is strange. How did I get old enough to have a twelve year old? Impossible. I used to look at pregnant women who were the same age I am now and think, "Why is she having a baby? She is too old!" Now, I realize I'm not too old!
We are just young at heart Betsy! My Andrew is the same age as some of my brother Andrew and Colton's friends first babies...Reminds me when Mary Caroline was younger and she told mom she was too old b/c she was not "young" like her friends' moms were...Out of the mouth of babes!
I was thinking this same thing. I still feel like a young mom but talking with "young" moms they start asking questions and advice like i did. It's crazy, I am happy NOT to be one anymore though :)
I've been feeling that too lately. Not so much that I am experienced, or know more than other moms- mainly just the "frumpy" part. :)
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