My Babies

Anyone who has been a mother knows the extremes you feel about your children ~ they can be the most frustrating, demanding little creatures that seem to suck the life right out you. They can also be the single most profound source of joy you will ever know in your life, only to be dethroned by your grandchildren!
This photo is circa 1982, Amber was two and a half and Tyler was nine months. The color has faded as are so many pictures that are 28 years old. We can be thankful for the digital and advanced technology that we have today. These pictures were taken at the only place you could get photos done back then, Kinderfoto. You had to wait two to three weeks to get them back and you never knew if you had a picture worth printing or not.
My son and daughter are very different and we learned early on, what worked as a discipline style for one did not necessarily work on the other. As I told them many times when they were growing up, "Look, I am writing this book as I go. I don't know what I am doing and I am just trying to do the best I can." Often, it didn't seem enough, or right, but it was the best I could do. I watch my daughter, now a mother of three, work through many of the same struggles I had. It is not easy.
If all this is true, why does generation after generation continue to have children? It is a hard, consuming job and yet, when I look at this picture and see their beautiful, cherub faces, my heart still pulls in my chest. Good, bad, right, wrong, they are still my babies even as they are adults with their own lives and challenges. The band aid I used to fix a scraped knee won't do the trick any more. They must make their own way in this world, and mostly, I get to watch from the sidelines with my fingers crossed behind my back and a silent prayer for them in my heart.
I am thankful for my children.