By Invitation Only..."A challenge"

Good morning from snowy NY!!!! I am officially over the snow, and we are due to get ANOTHER snow storm tonight and yet one more on Sunday. I cannot stand it anymore! Moving onto more pleasant subjects....... is our monthly By Invitation Only post and this months theme really made me pause and think. The theme is challenge and we are to talk about a challenge, big or small that we are facing.

 

I have a few this year, all I am confident I will conquer but they are challenges nonetheless. I could have talked about the challenge of needing to lose 20 pounds! But then devoting an entire post to it makes it official and it also means I need to do something about that right this minute and I have the Superbowl and all the yummy foods that go with it to contend with and there is NO WAY I am missing out on that:) . I need to "get in the zone" to do that, the good news is I am nearly there. And when I get in the zone, there is no stopping me!

No the challenge I instead  am going to talk about for all the world to see and hear is the challenge that is looming above me like a huge black menacing cloud...that of becoming a, I even hate to utter the word............ an empty nester. There. I said it. I cannot stand to think I will be one of them. Just saying it practically makes me break out in tears. This is coming from me, the one who cries over every Johnson and Johnson's, Disney and even the newest iPhone commercial....show me a wobbling toddler with thunder thighs and you are guaranteed a storm of tears! Here's the deal.......

I have spent the last 26 years of my life totally devoted to my three kids. Yes, I definitely did not deprive myself of doing things for me too, I dabbled in things for myself all the while, design, hobbies, tennis, social outings, everything I wanted to do but the truth is the epicenter of my universe (and still is) was always my kids. So this year, 2014 is going to be a really tough year, a very challenging year. At not even 50 I feel too young for this to be happening. So indeed there are positives and negatives about staring young! (take note people)

And so the cycle goes...we start out just the two of us
 


And soon, our family grows and there we are  pushing the symbolic carriage while the other(s) trail close behind on a tricycle or bike with training wheels.....

Then we expand, growing into an even bigger family....

And how did that happen! Soon they are all grown up, towering over us......

And then we are down to two yet again......

But eventually, the silver lining is  we will be a big family again,  a slightly different variation as this time it will be an , extended family with daughter in laws, eventually God willing grandchildren and again we grow....

My oldest is about to close on an apt in NYC and move off on his own (once they go that's it I am well aware). My middle son has plans to move to California by the summer and so far it looks like its full speed ahead. My 'baby" is heading to college in Sept. And there's certainly no stopping that! It almost seems cruel that within a 6 month span, all three will be flocking the nest! I can just about deal with one...but two and then three? It is almost too much.

I think one of the biggest challenges to me is that this means this "chapter" of my life is coming to an end and an entirely new one is about to open. I do not like change, don't do well with it. Always end up adjusting and we all know sometimes change can be an awesome thing but that "in between" bridge really freaks me out.

 A metaphor for me would be crossing from solid secure beautiful ground filled with an endless field of perky flowers (life with my kids at home)  and then having to cross over a long rickety, perilous bridge looming high above roaring waters ready to suck me in (the transition period), until I get to the other side, another plot of stable secure land albeit a different landscape (the "new" empty nester life)!!

I will miss the "having to drive them", the continuous requests for their favorite meal, the begging of preparing a very late night snack (normally mac and cheese), the cries for an ironed shirt when they are quickly getting ready for a dance, it's always " mom to the rescue"! I will miss being needed and wanted on a day to day basis and think I secretly coveted doing a job that only I could do:)  Now they are all grown up and ready to assert themselves by taking on these small, seemingly insignificant tasks on their own and it is time for me to slowly step back and allow them to flourish and learn and become independent.

But I know they know I will always be here for them.  Unconditionally. So.......I know I have company out there!! PLEASE tell me,  for all you veteran empty nesters, how you have coped with that transition period that I inevitably know we must all face. Any secrets of the tomb? Please share....I can use all the help and advice I can get:)

I know as with the hands of time that there is no turning back. Getting to see my kids grow, spread their wings and head out into the world equipped with the blessing of an education and eager, idealistic eyes is a privilege that not all get to see. So for this gift I am thankful and will remember that those cherubic, silky smooth, pudgy little hands will always,  no matter how far  they go be a part of me, and me a part of them.............

Thanks for reading about my personal challenge. If you want to hear about more others  challenges from the group of talented bloggers, please click here to the brainchild's blog, Splenderosa where there are links to visit all the other participants.

Many thanks for stopping in and caring about what I have to say. I appreciate your feedback and support, even when its not all about pretty things and beautiful rooms:) This is real life after all, the good, the bad and the sappy, but thankfully it's mostly good and pretty:)



Also just a few more days to send in your KITCHEN LOVE contest pictures!! Send in to 
theenchantedhome@gmail.com. I have gotten in many beauties and cannot wait to share:)