I am on a new venture…to become a new kind of mother. There is this realization that has hit me. It is that I can’t mother like I always have.
You see, mothering your children when they are young is very different than when they become teenagers. They easily (so to speak) cross over into their new stage but in some ways, I’m still stuck in my old ways.
How I parented when my children were in grade school just doesn’t work anymore. I guess you can call me a slow learner.
It’s not easy learning how to be a new kind of mother. But I have done a lot of observing of others, taking note of what I want to do and what I don’t want to do.
Part of becoming a new kind of mother is learning to let go, as I blog about often. Next week my oldest son graduates high school. That will require more letting go. His next big move will be leaving for the Air Force. This will be the final letting go, I suppose.
Becoming a new kind of mother also means embracing the season I am in and learning to accept the changes that are before me. Instead of always wishing my children to be younger again, I need to appreciate the here and now.
I need to trust that my children will end up more than okay. That they will get through this time and be a better person because of the challenges they encountered.
In becoming a new mother, I also need to allow my children to suffer consequences. I can’t fix everything with them. Sometimes they have to fall and as painful as that is, I can’t always be there to catch them.
But I can be there to help them back up on their feet. It’s a whole different role but I know it is a necessary one.
Have you ever felt this way…that you needed to become a new kind of mother?
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