Maybe Not Smarter... But Wiser...

Okay, so I deleted my favorite post in the process of creating my last blog where I had trouble figuring out a way to add a slideshow to my blog.  At my age becoming computer savvy isn't easy, but I'm learning.  Victoria becomes quite frustrated with my "handicaps" on the computer.  So I find myself winging it most of the time and taking longer than I really have to spend at the computer trying to figure things out.  Which of course, if I'm actually doing it, I will be more likely to remember it than someone telling me 10 times what to do in terminology that is mostly "Greek" to me, or not learning it at all if they are doing it for me.  It use to be me, Mom, teaching my children how to do things, explaining things they don't understand, or helping them when they mess up, and in general, helping them to understand and discover the world around them in order to have fulfilled lives, while trying not to "pull my hair out", at times.  Now, it is my children teaching me how to do things, explaining things I don't understand, helping me when I mess up, and in general, helping me to understand and discover the world around me, while trying not to "pull their hair out" - thanks, in particular, to the computer age we now live in, and to modern technology increasing at a speed I would have never imagined possible!!!

My favorite blog, which I deleted, had to do with being a Mom.  I will try to recall as much of it as possible for this new one because even though my kids may not remember the precious, frustrating and endearing moments of raising them, I do.  And since the better part of my life has involved raising them, for me, there couldn't be a more important thing to blog about than my children...


Being a mom is about time seemingly standing still for a period when my children were small, but realizing now, that it was actually a speeding rocket that can't be stopped, now that they are approaching becoming young adults.  Being a mom changes your perspective.  Before becoming a mom, I remember being in a department store at the mall once and witnessed a mother dealing with an unruly child and she asked her child, "Do you want me to spank you?"  I remember thinking to myself, "why would you ask him that?"  Do you actually think he will say, 'Yes, please spank me!'?"  How convicted I felt years later when those exact words were blurted out of my very own mouth!!  Once I became a mom, I became a more compassionate person and less judgmental; more empathetic of what someone else might be going through that I may not be aware of.  Not every mishap had to be viewed as unpleasant, and I learned to view a situation from the perspective that one day I will look back at this and laugh about it, which helped me many times in the moment of crisis to laugh something off.  Once when Victoria was about 2 years old, I was in a small pharmacy slash gift shop and was not watching what she was doing for a moment, which is all it takes at that age, and she had picked up a tube of bright red lipstick from a basket below me, on the bottom shelf.  One of the ladies that worked there came over to me to make me aware of what Victoria was doing, and I could not contain a laugh when I looked down and saw her face smiling up at me smeared bright red all over.  The clerk was clearly not happy about this and preceded to tell me that I would have to pay for the tube of lipstick.  All she could think about was how annoyed she was with me for not watching my child more closely, and all I could think was, "I wish I had my camera!!", (obviously, before cell phones).  I paid for the tube of lipstick, which turned out to cost only a dollar, but to me it was one of those priceless moments and I wouldn't have cared if it had cost twenty dollars.

Being a mom is about letting your son wear his "Bible Man" costume, red cape, "shield of faith", and all even when you take him with you to the grocery store and then letting him wear it to bed to sleep in later that night.  Being a mom is when I used to tell my son, "You're my main most man!" and he would tell me, "You're my main most mom!"  And I would sometimes teasingly tell him after a growth spurt, which always reminded me of how fleeting his childhood would be, "You better stop that growing!" and he would reply with, "I can grow!"
                                                                                              Preston did NOT stop growing!

Being a mom is those special moments when you want to reassure your first two children of their place when a new baby is on the way, so you tell them when their sister is born to place their finger in her hand and if she squeezes it then it means she loves you.  Baby reflexes naturally do this, and their faces both lit up when they stood by my hospital bed waiting their turn to do this over and over; they still remember doing this to this day.

  Abbie Grace - September 17, 1997

Being a mom is many things to other moms, but to most every mom it is a life changing experience that we would not trade for the entire world.  So as the rocket is flying by at an even faster pace these days, I can look back, and I can look forward to the plan and purpose God has for each of my children, and I can rest in His peace knowing that, according to Jeremiah 29:11, "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." And Jeremiah 1:5, "Before He formed them in my womb, He knew them".

As it turns out, I'm happy I had a moment to once again, reflect on motherhood and write this blog after accidently deleting the original one.  With Mother's Day approaching next month, what better time for a Mom to reflect....

Olivia - Twirling