The Happiest Days of My Life

So this post is in honor of my grandmother who just celebrated a birthday. Since its never polite to mention a lady's age, I won't tell you how old she is but I'm in my late 30s and she was 50 when I was born so you can pretty much figure it out from there. 


Every time I talk with my grandmother, she tells me how lucky I am to have been home with my son and how I shouldn't go back to work. Of course, she is of a generation of women that didn't have the option of working and raising children so I understand where she is coming from. 


Even though, my grandmother didn't have a choice about working outside of the home, she loved being a mom and raising her children. She tells me all the time how those were the best years of her life. But I know her child rearing days had to be hard. She had 4 children within 5 years and she didn't have the luxury of disposable diapers and take-out. She had to cook every meal from scratch and in those days husbands didn't babysit or change diapers. I can't imagine what her life was like in the thick of those days. 


Regardless of the reality, here she is at the end of her life and those years were her happiest. I hope that when I'm her age and I look back on my life that I will remember these years as my happiest too. One of the great advantages to being an older mom is that I've done a lot with my adult years. I've traveled the world and enjoyed wonderful experiences unlike my grandmother. So far none of that can compare to this journey called motherhood - it has been the most wonderful of wonderful experiences. 


I hope that when I look back on my son's first year, I remember when and where I was when he rolled over for the first time (that's probably a bad example since I was at work), said his first word, stood on his own, or took his first steps. I hope that I remember the happy days, the smiles, wet kisses, and cuddles and not the arguments, feeling so tired that my bones ached, or the crying, all the crying (from both him and me.) I don't want to remember the bitterness I felt after getting laid-off, the sleepless nights from worrying about college funds and savings accounts, or all of the "things" I didn't get to buy or do. So today in honor of my grandmother's birthday, I'm committing to enjoy this time because as we all know there are no guarantees on tomorrow.