MY CURRENT PHASE OF MOM-LIFE

This is my current phase of Mom Life: The Teenager and College Phase.

It’s very different.

I’ve seen many of the moms whose children are the same age as my oldest boys (twins), and they look….different. They are “Empty Nesters” with their kiddos off to college.

They look GOOD (not that they didn’t before), but also an odd combination of happy and sad.

There’s a happiness there because they have something they haven’t had in a couple of decades – FREE TIME!

No more rushing to this event or that event. No more scrambling to make sure everyone is on time, that ALL the “things” are done. There is a relaxed air about these moms that is beautiful to behold. They have TIME to get ready for their jobs with no teenagers to herd. They can eat what they want. They can spend their free time how they want!

But there’s a sadness as well.

Usually, if I see them in passing, it’s at an event where they no longer have children participating. They are there to support the school, the team, the other moms, family or friends, etc.

And that sadness creeps in and settles around their eyes, knowing their kids are beyond this stage. The nostalgia takes the serenity from their faces and the memories of their own children lighting up the stage, the field, the court, whatever the case may be, casts a shadow over them.

But then the magic happens. The event comes to an end….and they get to go HOME!!!

No waiting around. No helping clean up. No collecting personal belongings and inevitably missing SOMETHING that you have to pick up later.

They just….leave.

And the serenity returns. The grins are wide, the eyes sparkle. There is JOY in their hearts once again as they are free from the shackles of responsibility.

It’s an interesting phase of MOM LIFE to observe. I’ve got one foot in and one foot out of this phase. Still have my teenage daughter at home so we’re ALL about going to EVERYTHING.

But there’s also that FREEDOM of knowing I don’t HAVE to be there for certain events. I don’t have to help with set up or clean-up for things my boys used to participate in that my daughter doesn’t.

I can watch. I can feel the nostalgia and get teary-eyed watching the next group of kids participating and missing my boys doing their thing.

And then I GO HOME. Tell my daughter to catch a ride and I’m outta there!

It’s a wonderous thing.

We have a few more years of this, so we’ll see how it goes.

Later….

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