Parenting through the alphabet – 52 ways to keep your sanity while growing as a parent

Photo credit: crazytownmayor.com

 

 

Here’s my latest idea…a book about surviving parenthood using each letter of the alphabet. Every week a story will be posted based on a word or phrase beginning with a letter of the alphabet. Since there are 52 weeks there will be two stories based on each letter.

At the end of 52 weeks readers will have a pocketful of stories that will inspire and encourage you to stay afloat in the sea of parenthood.  I will have a first draft of something. Let’s begin our journey.

A – Aging

As your kids age, so will you. It’s an obvious statement right? Not always. Sometimes the things your child does may cause you to age faster. Or just feel like you’ve aged.

I dyed my hair several months ago and the color is starting to grow out. My son made a comment that lead me to believe he has been living in a special little cave all his own. The other night he looked at my hair and said, “Ma, do you have highlights?”

I was surprised that he knew what highlights were, but I responded, “Yes, Grey ones.”
“Why did you get Grey highlights?”

“Because of conversations like this.”

From Glam to...

 

Grey!

My highlights are actually bronze with hints of Grey, due to the aging process and stress levels. On any given day it could be one child or two who add to this process. Son number two has been known to blurt out his fair share of crazy comments.

I have a friend who is always posting pictures on Instagram, one day I decided I might try it. I asked my son to help me upload the app. He looked at me and said, “Ma you know there’s an age limit, right?”

I looked at him and said, “You know there’s a cut off point for your allowance, right?”

We spoke each other’s language.

Aging with the kids can be a thrill ride or a scary, haunted house kind of place. I am learning to strap in and enjoy the ride.  There will be peaks, dips and curves, but there is light at the end of the ride.

What thrill rides of life has your child taken you on?


Feel free to also leave a comment if there is a word beginning with a letter that you would like to see addressed (keep it PG). Tune in next Friday will the focus will again turn to the letter 'a'.  What else could there possibly be to say about this letter? Wait and see.

 

Journey to parenthood

Did you play pretend as a child? My friends and I played  “dress up” and “school” where someone was the teacher and the other kids were the students. We also played a game where we indicated how old we would be when we got married, had kids and who we would marry. We also guessed at what type of car we would drive. Boy, were we dumb.

I remember saying I would get married at 23 or 25 years old and I would have three kids. Well, none of that happened. At age 23, I was just graduating from college and didn’t get married until I was 30.

At one point I thought I wanted twins, one boy and one girl. After having one continuously crying baby boy, I was glad he was not a twin. I have two bouncing boys (big boys now). So what was the point of my childhood game? Nothing…it was just something fun to do.

Although life doesn’t always go as we plan, we have to learn to enjoy the journey. Along the journey to parenthood there is a lot to learn. Once you become a parent you begin a new chapter in your book.

I am glad I was blessed with the kids I have, imperfections and all. Challenges come and go, then they are just a memory. I am practicing not sweating the small stuff.





Below is my journey to parenthood through pictures (there are photos missing along the journey, but the general idea is here).

Me- maybe first grade?

 


High school graduation.

My boys.

Tired mom.



What are your memories about your journey to parenthood?



Last week I gave the challenge to capture your child doing something silly or funny and report back. Tell how it made you feel…did you laugh, scream, join them? This is all about enjoying your journey through parenthood.