~ A Wife and A Mom

In my "About Me", I mentioned that I'm a wife and a mom. This is my family ~ I'm the wife to KJ and last month, we celebrated our 27th anniversary. In our 27 years together, we've lived in Nebraska, Michigan and now California. We lost one baby but were later blessed with two. We've mourned loss of life ~ my dad, my aunt, his uncle, his grandmother, and my grandmother. We've lost friends due to illness. We've had job loss and job gain, made friends and lost friends. We've had pets galore. At one point, I thought we'd be the 'cool parents' and let the kids have ferrets. Yes, plural....they each had one. Ugh!

Our greatest accomplishment (to me) as a couple? Our two kids . . .

I'm mom to Ryan and Lynsay ~ 23 and 21 respectively. Because of them, my life has known a joy beyond anything I could have ever imagined. However, I truly feel that when you give birth, part of the "goodie bag" the hospital gives you before going home should include a handbook on how to raise children. There have been plenty of days where I made a call to my mom after something that Lynsay did and say, "I'm so sorry" .... lol. My mom was right; until you're a parent, you just don't 'get it.'

You don't get what it's like to wait up every night until each child is home and safely tucked away in their bed. You don't get what it's like to wait for the phone call that says, "I'm running late, I'll be home soon". You don't get that feeling of relief when you hear the garage door go up, knowing that they made it home in one piece after being out on ice covered roads. You don't get that rush of pride that goes through you when they've set and accomplished a goal. The pride you feel as you watch your son from the stands when a struggling football team stuck it out the entire year, never giving up, despite the fact they lost every game. Or, when your daughter puts her heart and soul into dance and seeing her dedication and hard work come to fruition when her dance team makes it to Nationals.

Yes, my mom was right; until you're a parent, you just don't get it.