In Others' WordsA New Tradition for this Late-in-Life Mom
My son missed decorating the Christmas tree this year--for only the second time in his life. And for the second time, we sent him a photo message. Only this time, we included his new wife in the message! Woo Hoo!
This past weekend the girls helped Rob and I decorate our Christmas tree. Each child as their own box of decorations that Rob and I have contributed to through the years. If you looked inside the boxes you'd see their tiny Turkish lamps from our military tour in Turkey. Their faux candy sticks that remind them of the ones we always bought at Cracker Barrel restaurants. Their soccer ball ornament (Amy) or karate kid (Josh) or kitten ornament (Katie Beth) or crystal rocking horse (Christa.)
Motherhood looks different for me these days.
I'm very actively parenting a first-grader.
I'm sharing my computer with my 19-year-old daughter, who uses it for her college papers.
I chat on the phone with my 21-year-old daughter who lives 15 minutes away--and drops in for visits or calls to arrange lunch dates.
I IM (Instant Message) my newly-married son who lives in New York with my "daughter-in-love." I've been known to call him at work too--sorry, Josh!--and to hand the phone off to his littlest sister who has an important question like, "So, Josh, when are you and Jen coming home? And how are China and Munchkin?" (China is their dog and Munckin is their kitty.)
I'm very actively parenting a first-grader.
I'm sharing my computer with my 19-year-old daughter, who uses it for her college papers.
I chat on the phone with my 21-year-old daughter who lives 15 minutes away--and drops in for visits or calls to arrange lunch dates.
I IM (Instant Message) my newly-married son who lives in New York with my "daughter-in-love." I've been known to call him at work too--sorry, Josh!--and to hand the phone off to his littlest sister who has an important question like, "So, Josh, when are you and Jen coming home? And how are China and Munchkin?" (China is their dog and Munckin is their kitty.)
This past weekend the girls helped Rob and I decorate our Christmas tree. Each child as their own box of decorations that Rob and I have contributed to through the years. If you looked inside the boxes you'd see their tiny Turkish lamps from our military tour in Turkey. Their faux candy sticks that remind them of the ones we always bought at Cracker Barrel restaurants. Their soccer ball ornament (Amy) or karate kid (Josh) or kitten ornament (Katie Beth) or crystal rocking horse (Christa.)
This year was a bit sad because Josh's box of ornaments was missing. We'd loaded it on the U-Haul along with the rest of his stuff after the wedding--and then he and Jen drove off to their obscenely over-priced-but-what-else-do-you-expect-for-New-York apartment.
That was the plan when we began the ornament collections: The kiddos would take them when they established families of their own.
I am just not sure how it happened so fast.
posted by Beth K. Vogt @ 1:27 PM
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3 Comments:
Your girls are beautiful! We are so fortunate to have the ability to communicate and send pictures through cyberspace. What a blessing.
Your Christmas tree looks a lot like ours - a tree of family life throughout the years. What joy! Did you buy new ornaments for yourself this year to replace the ones you gave to your son and wife?
No replacements. I really wondered where we fit those ornaments! The tree is filled to the brim of each branch. LOL.
I always enjoyed hanging the ornaments. Unfortunately, I'm not sure any tree we buy will fit in our apartment right yet. We'll have to get one of those mini ones and keep it on the fridge so the pets don't eat it. See you for Christmas!
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