Awwww Monday: Mom and me

When you become a parent, you finally appreciate and understand what your mother did.
~Julianne Moore

Last Saturday was my birthday and we took a day trip to Kansas City. While we were there, we stopped by to see the woman who birthed me all those many decades ago.

At 85, she is still kicking’ and lives independently with her husband in their own home. Good genes. May I be as fortunate when I get to be 85.

Like all mother/daughter dynamics, those teen and early adult years were all sorts of challenging. I remember giving my parents flowers on my 21st birthday with an “I’m sorry” card. A perfect child I was not.

Appreciate your mom. She’s wiser than you think and stronger than you know.
~Steve Maraboli

So fast forward to 2019, and I’ve come to realize just how difficult it is to parent young children…..as well as adult children. And, over the years, I’ve developed an appreciation for my mom’s back stories and the experiences she had as a young woman, wife and mother. Perspective is everything when you take yourself out of the center of attention.

I’ve also come to realize a child’s birthday is just as much a birth day for the mom as the child. Moms usually get lost in the hoopla of the child’s special day, surrounded by well wishers and gifts. For most moms, the joys of watching her children upstage the sacrifices she made physically, psychologically, emotionally and financially. Sacrifices many women will never begin to understand until they are mothers themselves.

So next time you have a birthday, enjoy the attention, say thank you for the gifts, and don’t forget to acknowledge the woman who made it possible.

Blog hopping today with Comedy Plus and Awwww Monday.