When my children were young, one of the greatest joys I experienced (though at the time I did not recognize it as such) was being \u201ceverything\u201d. I was the source of nourishment, entertainment, comfort, security, wisdom, the fount of all knowledge, and anything else they needed and\/or wanted. I was their first choice.<\/p>\n

That changed as my children grew. Some things changed quickly, others more slowly. As my children grew more independent, I began to be replaced piece by piece.<\/p>\n

Friends, extended family, video games, books, and television became more entertaining than mom.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia and Google now contain the source of all knowledge.<\/p>\n

Taco Bell, Chick-Fil-A, pizza, and just “eating out” are often preferred to meals at home (unless I make spaghetti, anything pasta, or potstickers).<\/p>\n

Peers and adult leaders provide many of the answers they seek. Not only am I no longer the primary<\/i> source of wisdom, sometimes I don\u2019t even get asked<\/i> the question.<\/p>\n

This could make me depressed, and I confess to experiencing some \u201cwaves of sadness\u201d over the last couple of weeks as I have pondered these things. But the more I ponder, the more “okay<\/b><\/i>” I become.<\/p>\n

I am not “okay<\/b><\/i>” because I am tired of being their mother and am ready for them to leave me alone. I am not “okay<\/b><\/i>” because “they’ll be back when they figure out how wise and wonderful I am”. I am not “okay<\/b><\/i>” because I am some super woman who can rise above it all.<\/p>\n

I am “okay<\/b><\/i>” because I love them. I love them with a mother’s heart, and my love is learning to let them be who they are.<\/p>\n

Love means I don’t hold on. Love means I don’t demand. Love means I let them grow. Love means I’m always here for them, whether they choose me or not.<\/p>\n

I like Mother’s Day. Not because I get attention (I’m actually rather uncomfortable with that), but because it reminds me<\/b><\/i> that I have the greatest honor and privilege in the world – being mom to my three children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When my children were young, one of the greatest joys I experienced (though at the time I did not recognize it as such) was being \u201ceverything\u201d. I was the source of nourishment, entertainment, comfort, security, wisdom, the fount of all knowledge, and anything else they needed and\/or wanted. I was their first choice. That changed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[2,1568],"tags":[47],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7zbKo-GR","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2657"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3408,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2657\/revisions\/3408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}