Today, April 6, means it's been 23 years since I gave birth to our first child--and to think, I was only six at the time. My husband and I have vivid memories of bringing that sleeping baby boy home from the hospital, setting his car seat on a table, looking at each other and saying, "What the heck are we supposed to do with it?"
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| Happy Birthday, Danielson! |
We figured out what to do after dipping the poor kid in cold bathwater and sticking the snot snatcher up the baby's nose then squeezing. It's okay, the son is no longer cross-eyed and eventually we figured out how to suck his buggers out. In fact, we did such a good job at this that when Daniel woke after surgery from a soccer injury, he even asked me to pick his nose.
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| Judy Woo |
Soon we added two female bundles of job (yes it's a typo, but I thought it was fitting) to the mix to create a full house of, "Mmmoooooommm! She looked at meeeeeeee!" Ah the pleasures of raising children! And of course big brother became a master at egging the little two into a fight then stepping back to watch.
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| Erica - Baby Bear |
Yes, we've had many wonderful years of joy and vomit, but those days are quickly coming to an end for the youngest of the crew is now a Senior in High School. She has chosen to attend the furthest school possible, Zhejiang University in China. Just kidding, but she is going to UCF in Orlando, which is quite a jog from little Memphis.
Seriously, we will miss our baby as we do the older two, and once again my husband and I will look at each other and say, "What are we supposed to do now?"
12 comments:
I have to admit, I was quite surprised that Erica was going to school in China. Another fun read. What exactly is on Daniel's shoulders?
Yeah, well Erica's not going to school in China but she isn't going up the street either. I think Daniel cut a buddy out of his photo--but he left the guy's fingers. OUCH!
It's not easy, that's for darn sure. But Hubs and I have decided that if we could find the humor in raising four daughters, surely we could find it in our empty nest experience. And we have...in between the bouts of crying. LOL
Thanks for stopping by. I know this empty nest experience will be tough.
Our daughter spent so much time away from home during her school years, it didn't seem all that different when she graduated and went away to college. We didn't really experience the sadness, the let down so many people talk about. We love our time together, glad to have it back. We feel good that's she's so adjusted she was able to flap her wings and fly away. That means we did our job.
She went 500 miles away for college, so we only saw her a couple of times a year during those days. She went 500 miles the other way for grad school, though our schedules were a bit better and so we actually saw her a bit more. After grad school, she again traveled her 500 miles back to the city she did her undergrad in, St. Louis. That's home now to her, not here.
Sandy
They'll be all right, and so will you!
Your writing is hilarious! You totally can claim a "Crowning Moment" raising 3 happy kids, still staying sane enough to write coherent sentences, and making the rest of us laugh in the meantime. Thank you so much for sharing at my hop!
I was almost an empty nester at 52, then came Spencer, now 13. He will soon be with his mom 4 hour away, so the nest is empty again, but the heart is still full!
joeh - the cranky old man
I can't even imagine these days, as my sons are four and seven, but I'm not looking forward to them. Maybe by the time I get there, I will...
so nice to get insight from you. My husband and I will begin our family next year. I am already a bundle of nerves and excitement.
Now is the time for vacations, community service, and hobbies you always wanted to do that can not be achieved with kids.
Well just like your baby survived the cold bath and crossed eyes you and hubby will survive being empty nesters. At least you still have several years of her coming home from school on holidays.
Thanks for limking up for Flashback Friday. Link up every friday on www.chasing-joy.com
It's now time for you! Thanks for linking up with Flash Blog Friday :-)
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