Life Lessons

Its funny, because yesterday when I created this new blog, I was worried that I wouldn't have anything to blog about. There are tons of things I could, and probably will express, so maybe it wasn't of fear of what, but more a fear of making sense of it all. Life lessons is the title of this blog and ironically, life has been full of lessons during this past year. Life lessons will probably be a topic more than once, more than twice, well quite honestly, it will be a subject I frequently visit. Life lessons are hard to learn, no matter who you are or where you are in your life. They are hard whether you are the teacher or the student. Being the student is the end of the spectrum that I am most familiar with and because of that, I continue to grow every day into a stronger, wiser, better person. There are many times when I have no choice but to be the teacher. After all, isn't that my job as a mother? Sometimes I enjoy teaching. I found a quote today that I fell in love with. " I do not want my children to walk in my footsteps. I want them to create their own path beside me" I think that is the real meaning of being a mom. Well, one of them anyway. I have lived my life. I love who I am, but I know where I came from. I don't want my children to live MY life. I want them to live the life they choose. I want to be the one to point them in the right direction. I want to be the one to lay the foundation so they can enjoy a life that they will live. I want them to continue to grow each day, as I do. I want them to thrive and flourish. I want them to have love and happiness. We all want that for our kids, right? So yes. I am the teacher and I love that role. Let's be real though. All the lessons that we teach our kids will not always make us so fond of that role. Today, I had to be the "bad guy" and my heart was broken. One of my children has decided to make some very poor decisions lately. Decisions that came be reversed and outcomes that can change, but poor decisions nonetheless. I did what a good parent would do, and I addressed the situation at home and I disciplined him accordingly. Some believe I am too hard on my kids, but others call it tough love. It doesn't matter to me what anyone calls it, because I am the one who knows what is best for them. Again, my job as a mom. That wasn't what broke my heart. Getting punished is one thing, but owning your bad decision and facing the consequences is something completely different. That is what broke my heart. He accepted his punishment. He is grounded. Not the end of the world. But he left today to go to school in tears. Tears of embarrassment and tears of ownership. He knew he has consequences that he had to face. I was so proud of him in that moment. So proud that in that moment, I wanted to wipe away his tears and tell him it would all be ok. But I couldn't I knew that. He knew that. He owned his mistake. It can be fixed, but he owned it. He owned it to me, to his father, to his teachers AND his peers. He will make better decision, of that I am confident. He will overcome, he will turn this around. Its funny, as I sat down down to start writing, I knew what "life lesson" I had taught him today. Every action has a consequence. Good or bad. But... the more I write, the more I realize that I have taught him more than one. Or maybe it is him that is teaching me another lesson. You can always turn a negative into a positive. My kids amaze me every day. I was angry yesterday, and I was disappointed. Today, I am proud. It reaffirms to me that I AM laying that foundation for them. They will walk their own paths, right beside me. We will learn from each other, always, so we can walk together always.