“Raising my children made me better than myself..."

“It was an education, raising these children, but mainly for me, not so much for them.  There was the sense of competence that motherhood conferred, the sense that if we could handle Halloween or the first day of school, or a rainy week in midsummer, we would be able to handle anything.”  -Anna Quindlen


     I can relate well to Quindlen’s comments on being a mother.  In some ways my kids raised me or at least raised that bar so that I had to gain some parenting competency (and quickly).  I came to parenting with plenty of babysitting experience, still nothing quite prepares you to be a mom.  It’s 100% on the job training!
     Now that our brood is all out of the house (old picture for nostalgia purposes) it’s easy to look back and feel grateful to each of them for providing me with the rich experience of parenting.  I certainly couldn’t have done it without them and while I’m sure I messed up on a daily basis they all seem to give me the benefit of the doubt most of the time.  Three of my most precious blessings are without question my three kids!  Mother’s Day is probably as good a day as any to thank them for giving me the opportunity and joy of being a parent! No one has fired me (permanently) yet!   


“Having and raising my children made me better than myself, but they did something else as well: they helped me learn to grow older.”  -Anna Quindlen