Embracing Transitons

Day 17 out of 100

Yesterday afternoon, while waiting at the dentist office, I had a realization...

I was standing at the reception desk, answering the routine questions, "Any aspirin in the last 24 hours? Any changes in medications? Any allergies?" My younger two sons where in the adjacent waiting room and I did not hear a sound from them at all, for like 10 minutes! Silence....and it wasn't the kind of silence when you knew they were up to no good. It was the "we are entertaining ourselves and doing what we are suppose to" kind! It was at that point that it hit me, I don't have little kids any more!

Timothy, the baby, is 10. Benjamin will be 14 in less than 2 weeks and Alexander at 16 1/2, has been driving for 6 months! When did all this happen? I flash back to this same dental office, to where I refereed fights and arguments over who would go first, read the same books over and over to break the boredom and calmed fears. It is a bittersweet feeling. What happened to my babies? Time is a funny thing.

Yes, sometimes my arms ache for a baby and yearn to be needed by someone completely. However, most of the time I am perfectly happy, right where I am: as a mother of children who are on their way to becoming independent, responsible adults. I love being able to talk to them as people, who have their own thoughts, ideas, dreams and opinions. Letting go of a previous stage is so much easier when you are enjoying where you are and excited to be moving on to the next one!

So, as the 2 younger boys each had his teeth cleaned, the other sat quietly, listening to music on his iPod and I read a magazine, geared to women over 40...and I liked it!


Embrace where you are and where you are going, rather than clinging to the past! Let go with love, that which no longer fits your life.