18 Years

18 Years...

I'm a mom of 4 boys, yes that's right all boys!  I love it and thankful to have this opportunity to be the best mom I can be but that's not where I'm going with this...I just keep thinking about something my dad told me numerous times about having boys.  He said,"Kid, you only have these boys for 18 years!  They will grow up and if you raise them right then they'll be independent (he really meant independent of me!) strong and strong willed."  He went on to say that it's my job to teach & train them to be productive citizens of society and that I've got until they're 18 years old to do it.  In his opinion by the time a young man is 18, which is old enough to fight and die for this country, then he's grown and better be able to do for himself.  He stressed how important this is and that I must work hard and enjoy these 18 years because they'll go by super fast.

Now that I officially have a teenager it's really hit me that my dad was right...once again!  I've only got 5 years left with my oldest and I still have so much work to do.  To say that panic mode has hit is an understatement!  I need and want to do so much with my boys and time is going way faster than I can keep up with.  I've recently realized that after they graduate high school my 18 years with them is up.  They'll go off to college, as they should!  They'll date, make mistakes, try to find themselves, figure out what they want to do with their life, get married, have kids...live life...as they should!  I just used typical examples here, I know there are many other possibilities!  After I've had the blessing of raising them for 18 years I can only hope that they'll allow me to be apart of their lives.  Sometimes I'm so hard on them now that I'm thinking I'll never see them after they leave home because they'll be in therapy for their terrible childhood!  Oh well, all I can say is that I did the best I could, at that time, with the knowledge I had and that I loved them with all my soul!  So if they need therapy for all of that, so be it.  

I pray and hope that they'll bless me with the opportunity to be a part of their lives after my 18 years is up but if not then I will be thankful for the 18 years I had!  So I've got lots to do and very little time to do it in but I'm going to enjoy this crazy ride because it all goes by way too fast not to!  I will teach them to be independent of me and only pray that I will get to watch what amazing young men they will grow to be.  I remember my dad telling me many many times that this parenting gig ain't easy or for the weak and I'm a firm believer that he was right!  Parenting ain't easy...it's the hardest job I've ever had but the most rewarding and best job I've ever had!  Thanks dad for preparing me from the get go to go on without you...somedays are better than others but that's what makes the ride great.  I will KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!

Trinity