Thursday, March 13, 2014

13 More Mom Truths

Yesterday this article popped off the page and it REALLY caught me. I had to read it!

13 Mom Truths posted on Huffington Post's Blog page. This surely will be either funny or inspirational, but as I read on and on and on, I was greatly disturbed by the fact that this mom obviously only knew some of the truths of motherhood. I mean seriously, she said in number 11: "Sippy cups leak. Toys break. Those things don't matter." 

Ok, so I am at number 11 and she is still talking about mothering a toddler! Really? There are so many more levels of "Mom Truths" than toddlerhood and grade school aged kids! I am still hoping that by number 13 she might have some incling of a "truth" about being the mom of a child who is actually taller than you! But, to no avail, my craving for something about being an older mom was not satisfied. She was spot on with her 13 points, but I suppose the title is what threw me  off guard. I was hoping that the article would include the many layers and seasons of motherhood.

SO....

Welcome to my season of gray haired mothering! I decided to continue the "Mom Truth" Saga where she left off. Allow me to list her first 13 before I write my commentary response.

In case you don't want to click on the original article, here are Rachel Martin's excellent young motherhood "13 Mom Truths" in a nutshell: 

1.  Your house is not a reflection of your parenting skills. 
2.  Sometimes you just need to read the same book over and over again.
3. Meltdowns in the store happen. 
4. You will be tired. 
5. Some days will be tedious. Other days normal. Other days challenging. Other days amazing. Motherhood is like a roller-coaster ride of days. 
6. Kids get sick. 
7. Fewer things equal less stress. 
8. You'll make mistakes. 
9. Laundry will never be done. 
10. Get down on their level.
11. Sippy cups leak. Toys break. Those things don't matter.
12. Don't worry about savoring every single moment.
13. There is no supermom. There is only the real mom. 


My motherhood season in response to hers in decending order

13: There may be no supermom. But ONE DAY, you will be SUPER GRANDMA and that day is coming soon!
12. Savor every moment, because they are almost grown up and when they leave, you will miss them so much more than you can imagine!
11. Cars get wrecked, insurance premeiums go up. These things matter, because someone has to pay the bills.
10. Let your teens fail and help them up, but don't rescue them from their consequences. When they are adults, Accept them for who and what they have become even if you don't understand why they make the choices they make. 
9. Laundry will never be done. In fact when they are teens and young adults, you will have more laundry because all their clothes are BIGGER and when they come home from college, the laundry pile is literally an avalanche.
8. You'll still make mistakes and you are actually at risk for making bigger mistakes the older they get.
7. Yep, fewer things still equal less stress.
6. Kids still get sick, and the older you get when you get sick, the longer it takes to get better. But, the good news is, that when you are sick, you don't have to take care of the little ones while you are puking your guts out. You actually get to stay in bed and rest. You have earned this priviledge!
5. Mothering teens is still often like riding a roller coaster, but as they get older, the roller coaster becomes more like a steady train ride as you build your confidence in letting them grow their wings and fly out of the nest.
4.  You will still be tired, because when they are teens they stay out LATE. The side benefit is that now you get to sleep in and since they sleep in too, the house is nice and peacefull till about noon.
3. Meltdowns in the store only happen when you forgot why you went to the store. Your teens have now drained you down to the point of nearly suffering from alzheimers. 
2. Now that you have read those books over and over again. Just toss them in the trash and go get yourself a nice big glass of wine and drink it over and over again.
1. Your house is now a reflection of your teens who did not do their chores!

Now excuse me while I go pamper myself in my quiet house,  enjoy my sassy gray hair and glass of Chardonnay and repeat as often as you want.


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