Today is her 31st birthday

 

Today my third child turns 31 yrs old.  Where has the time gone?  How could I be this old?  How could she be this old?  As I sit here contemplating my life, and how quickly it goes by I am thinking about my own mortality.  Reality is we are only on this earth for a blink of an eye, and that is how it feels right now.  

I can remember when the kids were little, especially the child with the birthday today.  She was my wild child.  She was the one that always had a mind of her own.  She was the strong willed child who would never back down.  I can remember countless times I was embarrassed by her wild behavior, and so stressed out that people would think I was a bad mom because of her horrendous behavior.  This is the child who never sat still.  This is the child who would never listen.  This is the child that would run off laughing.  This is the child that no threat or promise of a treat or anything else would work on if she had her mind set.  

All these years later I wish I would have appreciated it all more, and enjoyed it more and was less embarrassed and less stressed out because she has become the most amazing woman ever!  I am so proud of her, and know that she is where she is at and who she is because of who she was.

For any parents out there stressing out over your child and their behavior and wondering where it came from because the other kids aren’t like that….embrace it.  Help your child learn how to harness that energy for good, and now that it truly will not last forever.  Life will get better and some of the things you are stressing out right now you might even miss someday.  

As I sit outside in my hammock swing enjoying these early morning hours of the day I can remember and imagine her running wild in our yard.  When she was little she hated wearing clothes so I was forever chasing after her trying to get her to put her clothes back on (she always loved being only in her underwear).  I can vividly remember her jumping like crazy on the trampoline, and running around laughing and going from one outside toy to the next.  This swing, that swing, the slide, the trampoline…..back to the swing set.  I miss that so much as I sit here all alone outside listening to the birds chirp and watching my dogs run around.