The best job ever!

If you love your job you are a very lucky and blessed person. I love my job, and I've been at for 28+ years. I'm talking about my job of being a mom. But actually it's not a job, it is my life. There is nothing better in this world than being a mom or parent (gender does not matter!). It is the best thing ever!

I remember going to church, alone, very, pregnant 28-years ago and sitting there as they asked the moms at the end of mass to stand for a mother's blessing. I got to stand! This was a happy moment for me.

The previous year I sat during that same blessing, broken hearted because my first baby had died before they ever had the chance to live the previous fall. I was supposed to be pregnant, waiting...instead, I sat empty and sad. But in the May of 1988,  I was very-pregnant and excited and scared...Ryan Randall would not arrive for a couple of more weeks but I was anxious to meet this baby.

I endured an extremely HOT summer the next year when baby number two was on their way, Ashlyn Marie arrived on a day when it was 104-degree outside. August in Iowa is not pregnancy friendly weather! I think I knew that this baby was a girl before she ever got here, call it mother's intuition!

And finally baby number three woke me around 3 a.m. on the morning of my birthday and made his arrival a little over four hours later...I had a birthday buddy, Ranen William! The best birthday gift ever, except for the year I got a new baseball glove when I was ten...I'm kidding!! : )

Motherhood is a learning experience daily if not hourly! I kid you not! I've usually winged it or punted. Kids don't come with an owners manual nor are they ever the same from one to the next. Each one is unique and different. And that is what I love about my kids, they are great people, talented in different ways. I am fiercely protective and proud of them all. And will love them to my last breath on this earth. No one else has heard my heartbeat from the inside. And one of the coolest things is hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time when you are pregnant or seeing that baby on the ultrasound for the first time...best thing ever! It makes it all real.

Here are just a few thoughts on motherhood that I've LEARNED from my kids:
1. No matter how hard to try to hide the cookies, someone will find them and then you have to act surprised. Yes, my kids found my hidden double stuff Oreos!
2. I love to read to my kids. I read to them before they were born and continued long after they were born. It gave us 'me time".
3. Each of your children will turn out differently and have different talents and personalities. I love all the difference.s And cringe when they have some of their mother's likenesses! Sorry, you can't help what you are born with!
4. You can't choose your relatives but I would choose all three of my kids as friends and people I'd want to know and have in my life if they were not my own children.
5. Take time to do the fun things...the unplanned...or do nothing. I'm thankful my kids did not grow up entirely during this time of social media. They still got to be kids. Appreciate the small things and moments, this is where the best memories come from usually.
6. I'm thankful my kids got to know ALL their grandparents. This was a life feature I did not get so I had no idea what I was missing. It was fun to watch and see my kids experience because I had no idea what it was like.
7. Do not compare your kids to one another. (although I'm betting I did this at times-sorry!) I was compared, unintentionally to my older siblings at times. But I survived and grew up to be my own person. Everyone is unique.
8. The juice from the stem of a dandelion will stain clothing, but it does not matter when a two-year-old is handing you a handpicked bouquet they picked just for you!
9. If you are hair challenged you get someone who is not challenged to style your daughter's hair for dance recital!
10. Sharing your birthday with one of your children guarantees that at least one of your kids won't forget your birthday!
I could go on and on with life lessons I learned from my kids as their mom over the years but that could go on forever. I just know I've learned as much about life from them as I hope I've helped them learn!

I'll close out this Friday of Mother's Day weekend with a poem that I have always been fond of and it has always reminded me that my kids are a gift, every single day...even on the days when things didn't go well or they were sick, or naughty or struggling or just not the best. We survived and still love each other.

This is my last mother's day with three kids as that number will double by this time next year. This is exciting and no doubt will mean double the fun and love! Thank you, Ryan, Ashlyn and Ranen for all you've taught me and for giving me the honor of being your mom-you are all three truly gifts from God, the best gifts ever. You are all great adults! Love you!

I'll Lend You A Child

by Edgar Guest"I'll lend you for a little time a child of mine,"  He said.
For you to love - while he lives
And mourn for when he's dead.
It may be six or seven years
Or twenty-two or three,
But will you, till I call him back,
Take care or him for Me?
He'll bring his smiles to gladden you,
And should this stay be brief
You'll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay,
Since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there
I want this child to learn.
I've looked this world over
In search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd
Life's lanes, I have selected you.
Now will you give him all your love,
Nor count the labor vain,
Nor hate Me when I come to call to
Take him back again?"
I fancied that I heard then say,
"Dear Lord, Thy will be done,
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
The risk of grief we'll run.
We'll shelter him with tenderness,
We'll love him while we may,
And for the happiness, we've known
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for him
Much sooner than we've planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that come
And try to understand."