Life After Parenthood
This weekend I met an inspiring mother of an adult and it got me thinking about what kind of a mom I hope to be when my son is grown up.
The mom I met was out rock climbing. She was standing on the edge of a cliff in a state park about an hour out of the city, holding armfuls of climbing gear, enjoying the beautiful day, the beautiful scenery, and doing something she loved. She taught me to set up climbing anchors at the cliff tops, I lent her some of my gear, and we all climbed together for the rest of the day, and heard her stories about sleeping in a sleeping bag roped to the side of a cliff half-way up a mountain, and other daring tales.
Her son is in his mid-twenties, and she’d been climbing for over 30 years. Climbing is something I’m very passionate about and it was wonderful to meet someone who has kept up her passion through motherhood.
Our lives change so much when we become moms, and often many of the things we do for ourselves get lost, or there is no time to do the hobbies and interests we used to have. I hope I can maintain some of the things I’m passionate about as well as being a mother. And I hope one day I’ll be old and wise, and I can help others and share knowledge and experience as generously as the mom I met does.
Maybe my son will love climbing too, maybe he won’t, I’d love to share that with him if he does, but whatever he is passionate about, I hope that I will be as good at supporting him, and also helping him to find a balance between doing things he loves and doing things he needs to do (like school).
And when he’s all grown up, and off doing his own things, I hope he’ll let me know what he’s doing, even if it’s something I don’t understand (and it probably will – who knows what kids of 2030 will be into?) and I’m sure I’ll be very proud of him. And I hope he’ll feel that however grown up he is, that his mom will always be his mom.
What kind of mom do you think you’ll be as your children grow, and when they are grown up? How do you maintain doing the things that you love?
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