Oh where do I begin with this one. Its been a busy few weeks for me with the the school years coming to an end at 3 different times for my boys and all the activities that come with that so I was a little challenged in getting down to writing my blog. But my Monday Motivations are always a good day for me to feel like I can start over and get back in the groove of writing. I have been using this post lately as a weekly motivation for you (if not more for myself) in areas of creativity, health and some fitness. However, today its going to be a little different.
My Monday Motivation for this week will have to do with the joys and the growing pains of parenting. I wanted to share that being a parent of 3 boys who are growing up very quickly, calls for moments, whether I like it or not, of having to let go of my baby boys..
Its the end of the year that brought a lot of new beginnings for Christian and Danny. They both finished their first year of high school and middle school respectively. They have both had a lot of success and have learned soo much. Christian survived the rude awakening year of some grueling curriculum and hard work that he wasn't used to and grew intellectually in ways that only his 15 page papers could explain. Danny changed schools and from day one showed us that that we were NOT to underestimate what he could do. He showed us just how much he could advocate for himself and just how well he could do in a middle school 2-3x the size of what he was used to.
As parents it was a year of learning and growing for us as well. Its been year of letting go not just of them but of having control over a lot of the situations they will now have to encounter as the reality of the times we're in, and learning to let go with some guidance and trust that they will know how to deal with these situations. Its also, more importantly, been a year of letting go (a little bit) of that fear that maybe as parents we haven't done enough and actually trusting in our own abilities as parents; that we actually have and continue to lay a solid spiritual and personal foundation to help them be the best all around people possible.
This past week alone has been a week of letting go for me, and it truly put me to the test. Danny was going on his last field trip last Thursday to Malibu Creek State Park for a long day of hiking, and I immediately said "there's no way he's going by himself!" Long story short, after catching myself in realizing that this would be a great opportunity for him to gain some independence, in talking with his teachers and actually finding out that Danny wanted to go by himself, that's exactly what I did...I let him go by himself!! And what did this mommy learn...that he did absolutely fine on his own and had a great time to boot!
Then just yesterday, after being accepted to a special college bound program (see future post for details), we had to drop off our first born (sniff, sniff) for the first week of a 3/6 week residential stay at the CSUN student dorms. OMG!! I honestly did a lot better than I expected, trying to keep my thoughts positive and enthusiastic for him, but I had to give myself some slack too as Christian has never been away from home for more than a night on a sleepover. So Sandy was going to miss her baby and cry about it...at least a little bit! :'(
And boy am I little tired and drained today! But in good spirits and in the mood to write and share these experiences with you. Understand that these are little victories for me worth sharing because I'm trying really hard to make sure that I live my life as positively as possible for my boys, but mostly for myself. That alone has been a journey for me...but that will be a conversation for some other day.
For now I will leave you with summing up the poster above in regards to our kids:
We don't want our kids to grow up, but we have to accept that they do,
there are things we don't want to know that are kids are going through, but we have to learn how to guide them through it,
and we CANNOT live without our kids, but have to let them go...
May we all go through this parenting ride together and in support of each other!
It truly does takes a village!
Happy Monday from my corner to yours...
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