Ages & Stages

I {heart} being a mom. There is nothing that can beat first seeing your little one, making eye contact and seeing them respond to your voice. I have also never been as terrified as the day that I realised that I was responsible for keeping this little life alive: and not only alive, but committing to a journey to mould an individual into one who would be kind, gentle, compassionate, polite, considerate and thoughtful – an asset to society. Their lives appear to be a series of stages that we travel through with them. We nurse them when they are sick, share with them in their joy, and cry for them when they are hurting, (and want to physically destroy anything or anyone who hurts them). On the other hand, we recognise their potential and encourage them to use their talents – we dream big dreams for them and back them in whatever activity they choose to explore. As they grow up, the stages change, exam pressure and curfews, using the car, money (etc) can turn you into their enemy rather than their ally in the blink of an eye. Bette Davis once said:

“If you have never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent".

Occasionally we had to remember that we were not around to win a popularity contest. Saying “No” is a lot more difficult than the alternative. It’s so easy to want to give in and just say “Yes” and have a happy smiling child, than saying “No” and bearing their wrath. As parents we do ‘all the right things’, (or what we think are the right things at the time), sometimes we get it right and other times we don’t, and we may make decisions that we later regret, but always the choices are made out of LOVE. It’s a new stage for us now – We have to make adjustments on how to parent a ‘live-at-home-working-girl’ who doesn’t want to share her life so much anymore, isn’t as happy to have a random hug from her mom, and would rather be anywhere else than at home. I’ve heard it’s all normal – but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s difficult to deal with after years of closeness, open conversation and sharing of our lives.

We've done our best to raise our little girl – now she is an adult, spreading her wings and making a place for herself in the world.

With her love for life and people we believe her future is bright and we trust that she will embrace her freedom and life with wisdom and with passion.

We are incredibly proud of her. She is the best gift ever.

Peace... be this journey!