Sadly, the timing was all over the place on the topic of kids. So the way it worked out... I had kids years later... So while I am dreaming of adding to our family of three... others are getting ready to embark on the exciting years of middle school and junior high. Which means... people get busy. really busy. So we spend less and less time together. We are all off running around doing our own thing... and planning a get together gets harder and harder.
However, when I say less... I think what I consider to be less... is still a lot to most people. We end up getting all the cousins together at least once a month... if not more. I am lucky to be surrounded by family that matters not only to me... but to my son. To see his face light up to see his cousins... is exactly what I have always wanted. He love each and every single one of his girls... and there is nothing that makes me heart happier than when he sings about how much he loves his girls on the way home from spending time with them.
One of the up sides of being the last to have kids... I get to observe my sister and sister in law with their kids. They are both awesome moms... all the way around.
But when you watch someone and you pay attention there is normally one characteristic that stands out about them... something you hold on a pedestal. Something that makes you say... I want to be more like that.
I am lucky enough to have 2 women in my family that have done this for me. Through observation... and interaction they make me want to be a better mom.
Now... i will say. I think they are both amazing all the way around. And they have awesome kids. beautiful, smart, caring, funny, unique, talented children. But for me.. i will concentrate on the things I feel like they excel in. areas that I personally... hold higher...
My sister is the fun mom. She is funny, rowdy, and playful. She loves goofing off with the kids... and having a good time. She is the first to jump out there on a trampoline with the kids... or get in the middle of a water balloon fight. She is FUN. She shows me constantly how important it is to stop planning everything... and live in the moment. She shows me without even realizing just what being a mom is all about. Memories. She is making beautiful memories with her children... and without effort. She goes with the flow... with a smile on her face. She is a constant reminder to me... to play more often. Not to forget life is about those small moments... and life is so much better when you are laughing.
My sister in law... has a secret parenting system.... that i want to know about. I mean... if she wrote a book about this... I would buy it. Heck. if she wrote a one page word document on it and wanted to charge me 100 bucks to read it... i would still do it. Because she has the most thankful well mannered kids on this planet. They are low maintenance... and easy. My sister in law is the kid whisperer. Kids should not be this easy folks. They are the most polite little children... and make my 4 year old look like a monster. I mean ... wait... you just told your child to do something... and they did cry... pout... or talk back??? Tell me your secrets... I beg you. And believe me. I have studied this. I say to Jerry... now watch her at breakfast... tell me how she does it. what does she do... we need to do that too. But she is good... she knows I am watching... she's holding out to make me pay for that book. (psst. Kasey. ill purchase that now)
I could write you a post on each of them... and the things I have learned from them... just through interaction and observing them. They always say... be careful of who you surround yourself with because you become just like them. So then I guess... for motherhood I am surrounded by the right people based off that saying... because .. you often look at people and find a quality about them you want to be more like. There is always something you can learn from someone... and these two have quality upon quality that I adore.
These two have completely aced two areas I feel that I fall under par in . I am thankful to have them in my life... showing me how to be better mom... and supporting me along this journey every step of the way. We all have different parenting techniques.. and i am pretty sure none of us have a clue if we are doing it right... but we support each other... and I think we learn from each other... without having to say a word. Because these two women have taught me so much without ever whispering a word. They teach me ... just by being good parents. And in a lot of ways... they are the same... and in a lot of ways different. They have taught me no way is the right way... but we all have a way that works for us...
Just me observing them... with their children. And thinking... how lucky are those kids to have her as a mom? And then thinking... how lucky is Maddux that these are his aunts?
They have taught me more about the Mom I want to be... and the Aunt I want to be...
Thank you Holly and Kasey... for showing me rather than telling me how to be a better parent. Being patient and supportive of me through this journey of Motherhood and not laughing in my face with all my pre baby ideas of how this journey actually went... and rather just letting me put my foot in my mouth over and over again without even a sarcastic comment... that my naive 28 year old self deserved. Being a mom is the hardest job on this planet... however these two make it look easy.
Love you both.
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