Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Not the Hodgepodge

I've declared spring break in the Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, because one post today was all I could manage.

Almost manage.

Try to manage.

A-ny-way...the Hodgepodge returns at its usual day and time next week, but today you'll have to settle for the letter N. I have a meeting here all morning, along with a plumber coming for a pipe repair in the garage (thank you winter), and an appointment at the salon this afternoon. Oh, and company arriving tomorrow, so I need to vacuum and pretend to dust.

And it snowed overnight which is neither here nor there, but felt like it should be mentioned.

I enjoy participating in the A-Z blog Challenge every April, and I especially love blogging around a theme. The only problem I run into is that life outside my theme continues to happen during the month of April, and I like to record that too.

Daughter2 has been home since Saturday, her first trip back to the Garden State since Christmas. Whaaat?  Mothers of littles, this is what life looks like when your babies grow up and get real jobs many states away. You gotta learn to deal.

Rest assured you will, but it's a process.

I told Daughter2 I'd need a letter n word to go along with some words and pictures in which she's featured today, and she suggested with a giggle, 'Naughty?'  Ha! I won't lie when I say that word popped into my head too. As a tiny tot, this child did spend a lot of time on the naughty step, although these days she is anything but.

In her defense, she wasn't really naughty. Just impulsive, talkative, strong willed, determined, a lover of living life at full throttle, and smarter than the average 2-year old and sometimes her mother. She was also adorable, which was her saving grace.


These days my once daring toddler is an elementary school teacher, currently enjoying a full week away from her own little sweeties. Truly she has the nicest class in her school, and she's not the only one who says so. As much as she loves her students, even grown up girls relish time away to rest and regroup. To visit 'home', sleep in their old bed upstairs, allow their mama to buy them lunch and a brand new Easter dress.

Mama needs that too.


Mothers and daughters need time to snuggle up under a blanket on a perfectly perfect Sunday afternoon, time to chat about all manner of things including recipes, class projects, old friends, new friends, boyfriends, moving apartments, summer plans, and everything else under the sun.

N is for Never Too Old

Yesterday she tagged along to my Bible Study and heard at least ten times that there's no doubt whose daughter she is. We were looking at some old pictures taken when I was her age, and had I been ahem, a natural blonde back then, we could have been identical twins.


Daughter2 spent some time grading papers on Monday afternoon. When she was a little girl she imagined afternoons spent grading papers, and as is true of most things we long for as children, the reality of adulthood is slightly different. Still I think she doesn't mind so much.

One of my favorite things about having daughters in the house is the sound of music. Daughter2 plays the piano, but since she lives in a tiny apartment, she doesn't get to play unless she's home.


Most afternoons she wanders into the room where our piano sits, and as she plays and sings all feels right with the world. I stand in the kitchen and listen and I think about that once upon a time 9-year old with bright blue eyes and a boat load of confidence. The one who learned her musical A-B-C's in a neighborhood studio, who made her piano teacher laugh with her quick wit and easy smile. She was, in a word-irresistible.

She still is.

Now what does all this have to do with marriage?  Well, nothing really.  Except to say one day you look around your dining room table and realize you've got a houseful of adults.

And you are not sad.

Instead you and your hubs smile a lot, and you marvel at the enchanting people your babies have become. People whose lives and hearts and DNA are inextricably linked with your own.

Mothers of littles, this is what your life looks like when your babies grow up.
It's a different kind of beautiful....


...but beautiful all the same.

21 comments:

  1. Awesome post. Thanks for making me smile. Blessings

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  2. As much as I miss the days when my daughter was little, I wouldn't trade them for these days now. Not only has she provided me with new littles to love with reckless abandon, she's the best friend I've always longed for. Yep, it's not the same as it was ... in a lot of ways, it's way better. ;-)

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  3. You are so right about the observations around the dining room table. It makes your heart swell to overflowing. "A different kind of beautiful." I like that.

    .

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  4. It does take some getting used to having adult children instead of little ones. But it is a nice feeling when you see what wonderful people they have turned into and know that you had a small part in making the world a better place.

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  5. Isn't it wonderful when they're home and filling the house with music. I love that!!!

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  6. It's so fun watching them soar into adulthood - and to find they still need their mom :-)

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  7. Aren't memories wonderful. I always say everyone loves a baby however they do grow up and now they make the babies for us.

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  8. We let our daughter borrow our electronic piano when she lived in an apartment. She loves to play.
    so fun for you to have her home for a whole week!

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  9. It sounds like you guys have a really beautiful relationship. That's not always easy!

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  10. Dreams are reality are usually a few steps removed from each other. I'm learning to play the piano, but it will be a while before I'm where I want to be.

    J.L. Campbell writes at The Character Depot and the Jamaican Kid Lit Blog.

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  11. Nothing better than having the littles home! Have an amazing time!

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  12. That is certainly a busy day your have today! Sounds wonderful getting to listen to Daughter2 play the piano. I totally agree, looking around your table and having your children as adults has been one of my favorite things in parenting.

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  13. You have a beautiful family. Yes, they do grow up far too quickly!

    Visiting you from the A to Z challenge sign-up page. Great to meet you!

    Stephanie Faris, author
    30 Days of No Gossip
    http://stephie5741.blogspot.com

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  14. N is for nothing as sweet as a mom talking about how much she loves her grown up little girl.

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  15. It's nice to hear that you are enjoying the week with your baby girl :)

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  16. Oh, this brought many smiles to my face. My daughter and I always get on the couch, cover up and talk away when she comes home or I go there. It's such a special time. Continue to enjoy your fun Easter week!

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  17. You brought a smile to my face, and this contentedness made me fee content. :)

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  18. This was an especially enjoyable post to read (they all are, however). You made me to miss my daughter all the more. Like yours, my daughter lives a very long way off and our visits are always too short. Happy Easter!

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  19. Tears from reading this post, full of love and wonder. Awesome.

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  20. Thank you for showing the beauty of this season. I'm in 'anticipatory grief' about him leaving for college in a few short years - they just keep speeding up. So great to consider a different, unexperienced type of beauty.

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