Tag: #raisingdaughters

It’s Been Fun

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A little role reversal occurs as they get older. My daughter said, “I want you to eat this weekend and that doesn’t mean only coffee.” 🙂

This morning, my daughter and I were laughing at some of our moments over the past six years. She has quotes from me stored in her phone. What’s even worse is she also has videos. Both are hilarious, but that’s been our life. 

We laugh so hard we cry!

Today, I was looking at my memories on Facebook. The pictures from 2013-2015 were so blurry. It was the beginning of our life alone together and I didn’t know then what I know now. Life was blurry and so were my pictures.

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It’s crazy what we went through while living in that house, but that’s what we were laughing about this morning. We’ve learned and don’t want to go through any of that again.

A life with no regrets can look and sound rather crazy, but it’s been worth it.

When we stopped laughing, I asked her, “Are you going to be able to use any of this?” She was happy we were referring to the past and said, “Nope, but it’s been fun.”

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No regrets.

There’s No Rush

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The hibiscus in my previous post has another bloom. It was just starting to open, but I wondered how quickly it would bloom, so I snapped this picture to capture the moment.

bloom

Each morning, I take a moment to step out on the front porch to assess my surroundings. They are a reflection of the care given and attention received. Whether that be a garden, or the people living within our realm.

My daughter hit a milestone in adulting.

She rolled the trash and recycling cans back down the driveway to their designated area. I didn’t ask her to. She just knows it’s a part of being an adult, so she did it. They were not sitting behind our vehicles this morning.

I’ve waited a long time for this.

My daughter knew I would be leaving the house early, so she cleared the path. She knows what it’s like to back into them.  🙂

She does so many things within our home without me asking. She has watched and realizes a beautiful life is in the details. I see the details falling into her life. Her bed is usually made long before mine.

I want my daughter to slow down and enjoy this beautiful life. I found myself responding to people this week with, “There’s no rush.” I wanted everyone to stop rushing. I think she’s getting it because I’m beginning to hear her respond to others with, “There’s no rush.”

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There’s something about saying those three words out loud to someone, it bounces back and has a calming effect. There’s no need to say it if I’m not willing to do it as well.

The Hibiscus opened ever so slowly. Even with blooming my darling, there’s no rush.

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Pretty is Important

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It was time to order coffee. I love Bluebottle coffee and their Hario Cold Brew Bottle.

I asked my daughter to choose what kind. She sat down in front of the computer and looked at the website. Walking into the kitchen I said, “Pick one out and put it in the cart. I’ll handle the rest.” Then she snagged me with…

“I wish everything in life was that easy.”

She’s had a rough couple of weeks.

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This weekend, I spent some time being mindful of what might make her life a little bit better. Earlier this week, we had started a puzzle on the coffee table thinking it would help, but it was really challenging. Puzzle is gone.

She loves my bedroom makeover I wrote about in Under the Bed. Especially the faux fur body pillow case I bought at Target. There was a white faux fur one I thought she’d like, but didn’t get.

I must really love that girl go to Target on a Saturday afternoon for a pillow case.

A couple of weeks have passed since purchasing mine and they had added more choices. Having so many choices makes deciding difficult, but follow your heart darling! I didn’t choose the white one. A pale pink, faux fur one spoke to me today.

While at Target I looked for something to put our cotton balls in. We have this ginormous bag of cotton balls and it’s a wrestling match with the bag to get one little ball out. This looks like something that can hold a lot of balls!

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A woman was walking in Target as I was walking out. Her t-shirt said, “Tough as a Mother.” I smiled and thought, “Truth.”

My daughter loves that I cross stitch.

She saw a pattern on Etsy that made her smile, so I downloaded it. She knew I needed light avocado green thread to get the cross stitch started, but didn’t know the rest of the colors. While out running errands, she stopped at the craft store and came home with that one color.

After the week she had, I know what it took for her to walk in and find that one. I went this morning and bought the rest of the thread.

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But my most favorite find was this. I’ve never really thought about my toilet brush, or the holder. I’m sure the one we have now is a cheap plastic one we’ve probably had for years. That’s disgusting now that I think of it.

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It’s a Unicorn! I sent her this picture with the message, “They may not lick our windows, but they will clean our toilet!” She said, “Bahaha….Is that a toilet cleaner brush???” I’m happy at 20 years young, she knows what one is!

I’m grateful that our life is pretty all the way down to the toilet bowl brush. We live simply, but every little thing we have is pretty. Especially our hearts for one another. Pretty is important.

Embrace Some Change

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My favorite part of my daughter being away on weekends is taking up the entire driveway. I park smack in the middle. I sleep similarly, by spreading out and taking up the entire bed.

I’m not afraid to be alone. I quite enjoy it.

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From my daughter. Shake it. It’s full of glitter.

♦ ♦ ♦

I spent the weekend decluttering our home.

As we grow and change from within, it’s natural for our surroundings to change. I packed up items we weren’t using, but wished to keep. Moved pictures and small items to new locations. The biggest change was the coffee bar.

I moved it to another part of the house.

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Sign under mirror says, “You are gold baby. Solid Gold.”

Our coffee bar is mainly tea and what was once the coffee bar is now wide open space.

Don’t panic. The Chemex is in the kitchen. 🙂

When my daughter returns home she knows she will see changes made. She almost expects it.

They may be obvious, or it might be in the tiniest of details. Now, she looks around eagerly for the changes. She moved her room around last week.

♦ ♦ ♦

To raise our children to be self sufficient adults. That’s the goal. Be the change. Move stuff around in your environment and soul.

She knows I love her, but she also sees me enjoying being alone. Embrace the change.

The Bounce Box

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My daughter and I have this thing going on with the box of Bounce dryer sheets. Every time I reach in the cabinet to retrieve the box, the lid of the box is mashed in. It makes me smile when I see it.

It shows me my daughter has her own way of doing things. When I use the bounce box, I ‘tuck’ the lid in, but she just mashes it. I’ve never showed her how to properly close the box, so she adapted her own way.

bounce

She’s growing up, and doesn’t ask very often how to do things anymore. I’m glad. I’m not the type of Mother that believes it has to be done a certain way.

I want her to find her own way.

Maybe I will find her way better and mash the lid down too! If I was the last person to use it, she sees that it’s tucked, so she can choose to tuck it instead.

I’m not going to ask her to conform.

We have our own way of doing things, but at least they get done. You just keep doing you darling because it makes me smile. Just like my boss told me, “It’s only Pizza!“, this is only the bounce box!

Be the Mama

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I try not to rush anymore, but recently I found myself getting sucked into life’s frenzy.

This morning it was time to stop.

back view beach clouds dawn

I’ve been watching my daughter.

At 19 years old she has wisdom and discernment, and makes sound decisions. I’ve stepped back to let her practice running her own life. Watching how she manages it, and giving her plenty of space. She’s been adulting very well except for this one thing….

She’s exhausted.

Mentally and physically.

Time For a Change

I took a long look at how busy she has been. We both have, but I could also feel a disconnect. We are more than roommates. We actually do this life together, but when she came home Monday from her Dad’s, she sat down and fell asleep in her chair.

Her visits with her Dad haven’t changed since the move, even though the distance has.  He’s only ten minutes away now instead of an hour, but she still packs her duffel bag every Friday, and heads to his home. Stays the weekend and comes back here on Monday. She has three days before doing it all again.

I’m Still the Mama

She communicates with her Dad, and they make their own plans, until this morning. While she slept, I texted him and told him she is staying home this weekend. It was time to step in and be the Mama.

When she awoke, I told her what I did, and she looked mortified that I had stepped in, but you know what else I saw? Relief and a slight smile.

This weekend she doesn’t have to be an adult.

Today was a good day to be the Mama.

Feature Photo by Riccardo Bresciani on Pexels.com

So Many Firsts

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My daughter is at the eye doctor today.

She called and made an appointment yesterday to have her eyes checked. What an adult thing to do. I’m in awe watching her set her sails.

adventure boat deck islands
Photo by Vaibhav Kashyap on Pexels.com

We raise them to the best of our ability, and then watch them as they go.

I’m not going to try and catch you up on what all has happened. I will let her do that in her own words. She has changed/grown so much this year.

I feel like today, we hit a milestone. The beginning of the ‘Mission accomplished’ phase of the journey.

The day I left her father, she saw me truly follow my heart, and she’s been watching me do so ever since. It didn’t surprise me one bit when she said, “I want to spend Christmas in England this year.” It will be the first Christmas we didn’t celebrate together.

My daughter writes. Photography is her love, but her words add life to each photo. Here is the link to her Blog. Thank you for sitting here with me today as the grand list begins of so many firsts.

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My daughter as of yesterday.