How Fast It All Flies By

On this Mother’s Day, I’ve been a mother for 29 years. And when I think about motherhood, I think a lot of things, but mainly how fast it all flies by.

One day they’re babies, then suddenly they’re college students, adults, and parents themselves.

Looking back on my own childhood, I was mainly raised by my grandparents and aunts and uncles. I still remember the soap operas playing in the background on the TV, and somehow I can still hear the theme songs in my head. Life really did feel simpler back then.

Anyway, I digress. Today is Mother’s Day.

Some things I’ve learned along the way…

I was young, but not too young, when I had my first child, and 30 when I had my second. You know that book What to Expect When You’re Expecting? That was the book back in the ’90s. I’m sure there were others, but we didn’t have endless parenting blogs, social media advice, or Google searches at our fingertips.

We mostly took things day by day. We trusted our instincts and figured things out as we went.

And honestly, I’ve learned that not everything works out perfectly, and that’s okay. Life has a way of teaching you patience, whether you want the lesson or not.

Being a mom never really stops, even when your kids are adults. The worrying, the advice, the checking in, it’s always there. The late nights, too. I still look at the map on my phone to make sure she made it home safely after a long night.

There’s also this strange mix of exhaustion and gratitude. The same chaos we probably complained about when they were toddlers somehow becomes the very thing we miss later. And now I’m grateful we still get dinners together weekly, sometimes daily, even though they have homes and lives of their own.

The part no one really talks about when you have babies is that one day they grow up and have babies of their own. I guess I never really thought that far ahead at the time.

And then suddenly, you’re watching your own baby become a parent.

It’s a blessing. It’s fun, exhausting, emotional, exciting, and honestly, one of the greatest gifts.

I guess all of this is just to say, being a mother is hard. You don’t really need a book or the internet to tell you that. It’s messy, emotional, exhausting, and beautiful all at the same time.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

Then one day, somehow, you become “KK.” And being a grandma might just be one of the best feelings of all.