Thursday, August 26, 2010

Look at Me, Mom!

Remember when your children were small and every time they did something new they called out, "Look at me, Mom!"? Maybe this is still happening.
There were times when my kids did this so often that I honestly got tired of it. I would be in the middle of trying to get a task done, and stopping every thirty-seconds so I could 'look-it' made my task seem like forever to finish.

But then the kids got older, and the requests for me to look at their new trick, or show, or whatever, seemed to vanish.

Until last week.

Joshua just started football practice. This is his first time playing football on a team and he has been receiving lots of instruction. He's been particularly fond of the tackling lessons. And last week he invited me to come early to pick him up from practice - so I could watch him tackling.
Once I got over the shock that my son - who has been pushing me away so much recently - just asked me to come see him, I realized something. After years of silence, my son just said - in his adolescent way - "Look at me, Mom!"
And it was wonderful to hear.

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Just to give a fair picture, the day after this incident Joshua invited me to come early to practice again. He waved at me from the field when I got there. I was thinking it was so cool that he was happy to see me.
But when practice ended and I thought he would come over to me, instead I found him walking with a friend a good 20 feet in front of me.
Ahhhh, adolescence. The battle between needing mom and not wanting to be seen with her. The battle between holding on to my baby and letting him grow up.

Thank You, LORD, that You have promised to never leave me. I know I won't be able to make it through this without You!

Karen

7 comments:

Leah Adams said...

How sweet!! No matter how old we get we still need our moms and dads. There are so many times that I think, 'I wish Daddy were here on this earth so I could ask him ___________.'

I'm sure that your little ones need you way more than they let you know.

Leah

On Purpose said...

Thank you for paving the path before us moms...seriously it helps me transition into these seasons with more grace and hope!

Patricia said...

Oh this just warms my heart!! We are in the "look, mom!" stage right now...about every 2 seconds...lol!

Nice to know the "look at me, mom" stage continues into adolescence...just differently ;)

Hugs!!
Patricia

BusyB said...

HOW funny!!! we are at that stage with both lol!!! little one its every 30 seconds and older its the new cheers and tricks loL!!!!!


HAPPY THURSDAY!


Glad your Boy Still has it in him lol!

Karen Hossink said...

Leah - Yes. That thought has brought me much peace. Just because my kids are growing up - and even when they're 'gone' - it doesn't mean I am no longer their mom.

Nichole - Thanks. I'm glad!

Patricia - The same, but different. Yep!

Britany - He still has it. I'd like to put an end to some of the stuff he has in him, but I'll keep this part. *wink*

gianna said...

Gotta love it!
I have a good friend (not Amanda this time) who I have been talking to about how we can be the parents we want to be when our kids are teenagers. Yes, I know. My oldest is going into kindergarten and I have lots of time, but I really don't have that much time. I feel like now that the ball has started with her going to kindergarten, there is no stopping it. Now everything is going to go so fast. I just know it. These first 5 years have been incredibly slow, but now we are in fast fast forward.
Anyway, I want to be a mom to my teenagers who welcomes them with open arms no matter what they want to talk about. And I want them to be free to talk to me about anything.

Karen Hossink said...

Gianna - You're right. You really don't have much time - because establishing that kind of a relationship with your teens starts right now! And you're doing a wonderful job. *grin*