"I wish she was my mom. She's so much fun." It's the death blow on a mom's heart. I'd love to laugh it off and say every child feels that way at some point. That may well be true. But even if it is, it doesn't take the sting out of knowing my child feels that way. I want to be her first choice. I want to be the mom she would choose if she could. I want to be the fun mom, the wise mom, the caring mom, the always-amazing mom. But I'm really not. I'm the mom who regrets something from ... [Read More]
Dear Weary Mom, You Are Known!
Dear Weary Mom, Sometimes it feels like if I wore a name tag it would simply say, "C's mom." I shuttle her from dance practices to cheerleading meetings. I write checks for youth camp and buy her favorite snacks. Her friends are not even sure about my name, reminiscent of the time on the playground in preschool when the one of my girl's friends said, "Um, Miss C's mom, could you push me on the swing?" That day, on the playground, it was cute. I felt like I'd gotten my first merit badge ... [Read More]
Dear Weary Mom, You Are Seen!
Sweet momma, I saw you at church. You were chatting with all the other moms, discussing summer plans, and smiling at the stories of field day, dance recital, and graduation plans. You had a smile on your face but your eyes told a different story: worries about how the bills would get paid this month, fears about how your parents' failing health would affect your family, insecurities about how you measure up as a mom, concerns and doubts and more about those things we rarely share ... [Read More]
Dear Weary Mom, We’ll Make It!
Oh girl!! I wish you were here with me right now. I'm on my third cup of coffee and fighting a monster of a headache. This morning I managed {barely!} to keep my cool when my 13-going-on-25 year old daughter yelled at me because her hair wouldn't go into a ponytail the way she wanted. As I brushed through the tangled mess of hair, she cried and I wanted to. We've had more bad days than good lately, this girl and her mom. She snaps at me and I want to snap back {I do snap back more than ... [Read More]