Always My Babies, Always Their Mom

Being a Mom is the most challenging, rewarding, amazing loving thing you can ever accomplish. We forever see them as those chubby faced toddlers, but what is life like when they are grown up...

Today my youngest turns 18 and I am not sure I am ready for it! I have two other adult children, but this is my last baby to become and adult. For 27 years, yes since I was 18, I have been raising kids. My entire life has been schedules, play-dates, schoolwork, activities, sleepovers, arguments over the word no and moments of learning when to let them spread their wings. When my first, my son, turned 18 it was weird, but he was my boy and I had raised him to be a man and there it was. He stayed close to home, so it was never really an empty nest. Just me learning that he was going to do his own thing and lots of prayers he made the right choices. Then my second turned 18 and well she left for the Navy and went thousands of miles away. That really threw me for a loop but made me realize how to have an adult mom/child relationship with my kids. You see while she was half a world away my son had a baby girl and I was now a grandma. I truly had no idea what direction life was going in at this point.

I just remember thinking ok this adult child stuff isn’t so bad, because I still had one left at home. I t was nice to still have one at home and still have the routine I was so accustomed too. As much as I had wished for the day I didn’t have to worry about homework or activities they needed to do, this was all I had known. Listen moms, I know there are some who are at this point going oh yea me too, and then there are ones who are wondering just how fast 18 years takes to get here. We are ok for thinking this by the way, but it gets here faster than you think. I wasn’t prepared honestly, even with two already out of the nest. I mean, what now? What does one do when their entire adult life has been caring for children? Should I go mother the neighborhood kids now?

So many questions, yet so little time and certainly not enough answers. I guess I just need to go with it and see what happens. I have always said they will always be my babies and that part stands true to this day. So, what do us moms do when our last one leaves the nest? I suppose I could venture off into hobbies I have always wanted to do. Where is the mom support group for empty nesters? Or maybe the support group for the ones who fell out of the nest but never left the tree? While I have my son three hours away with my grand babies, my oldest daughter is here, and my youngest will be leaving for the Marines in August. But I am not prepared to not have to say did you do your schoolwork, homework, is your uniform ironed, did you pick up your room…I am not ready for this.

Moms, we need to make sure that while we raise these babies to be amazing adults, we don’t forget who we are. We need to have something to look forward too, so we don’t go crazy when they do leave. I guess it is time to write my bucket list, I will always be their mom but I am also my own-self too!