When I was growing up there was never a question in my mind that I would be a mother. Having a family to care for, to nurture and love wasn't written out on a piece of paper but it was there in my heart.
It is a reward for most mothers to watch their children flourish and grow, mastering each of the challenges that they were presented with.
Soon my husband and I will be expected to master our own new set of challenges … In the not too distant future I will become a grandmother. Wow. That is still a lot to process. And honestly, thought I know what it takes to become a parent, to nurture a baby, and to raise a family it still feels like an unknown that is situated right there in the middle of the road.
When I was pregnant with my daughter (the mother in waiting) it was a lot of stress for me. For one I was really there alone. My mother had passed away sometime before so that was one support that just wasn't there, one that I could have really used. One that would have been in the position to council me and provide me with advice. The same was said for my mother who also lost my grandmother before I was born.
The closest adult female relatives that I could reach out to was my aunt from my mother's side who never married and thus never had children. My sister was too young at that time, just finishing her freshman year in high school.
While she was a major help and support to me during that time she had the same amount of experience as I did and that was zero. Jump forward six months after our daughter was born, between my husband and I along with much needed support from Elizabeth we made it through alright. But still, the thought of having a baby with the support of my mother always meant a great deal to me. It was as if a piece of the experience was missing. Though my aunt made an absolutely loving grandma for my kids!
Now we are gearing up for my daughter's child. She and her best friend are in the process of preparing for the baby shower. Which I was specifically instructed to leave up to them. It is nice that they are having so much fun and for me, being as traditional as I am at times would have turned down and offers to host.
While friends have informed me that it is no longer so strict when it comes to hosting a shower it would have
I got to help select the invitations for my daughter's baby shower. And it was so delightful to see how many choices you have have today when you look. This one will be neutral in that my daughter and son-in-law do not know the gender of the child, choosing to be surprised when they are born.
For me there was never a baby shower and I will admit that we knew the gender in advance. The ability to detect the baby's gender via ultra sound had started in the early 80's but it wasn't common practice until a few years later. That realization makes me sort of sentimental, the ability to know the baby's gender really isn't that new as you can see, however, it is also not that old either. When you look at the length of time we have been able to predict a baby's gender to the time before … Well there were a lot of surprised parents is all I can say.
Growing up you feel like time never progresses. Then as you grow up and realize how fast it really is. When my children were small you could almost watch them grow by the day, then one day they themselves were adults. I can clearly remember my daughter's wedding three years ago. It almost feels like yesterday.
Time is a funny things isn't it?
I am sorry that this got so sentimental, as you may have noticed this is a really exciting time for us.