hh good lord this made me cry. Thank you for giving your son the chance at his dreams. That's what all parents should strive for. You are amazing. Thank you!
Meg
· 6 months ago
May I have the privilege of being a mom like you one day. This inspired and touched me. Thanks, Ann.
Lora Prill
· 6 months ago
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Ann Kingman
· 6 months ago
You're amazing. How in the world do you make me cry with every post you write? This is beautiful. I can't wait until I have such a moment with my daughters someday.
francine hardaway
· 6 months ago
OMG, Ann, I have been there. I think he also knows he's perilously close to going off to college, and to the end of his childhood. They all want to grow up, but they don't want that to end, either. For me, it was sending Chelsea to tennis camp in Florida from Arizona. She was 17 then, and she's 35 now. Just yesterday she said to me, " I can't believe how much you invested in me and my tennis." And every penny worth it! Enjoy, Ann. You are a good mom.
olivier blanchard
· 6 months ago
Wow. Just wow.
Mitali Perkins
· 6 months ago
I'm rushing down right now to spend time with my still-at-home teenagers because this day is coming soon for me.
Cecelia
· 6 months ago
I call it deep hearted overwhelming love.I have felt that many times for both my children,most recently when my son had his Eagle Scout ceremony.He stood up in front of a church full of people and spoke from his heart with out any notes.Love, simply deep hearted overwhelming love!
Amy Flanagan
· 6 months ago
Wow. That is motherhood in a nutshell. The name you've given to this post feels ironic as you have so perfectly described every last dream I have for my children but have never been able to articulate. Thank you.
Katrina Hollmann
· 6 months ago
Ann - How I have missed your posts. Your gift for putting the real meaning of the experiences of life into words that touch your reader's emotions is truly amazing. Thank you, as always, for sharing something so personal. You always make me think and nearly always make me cry or laugh.
Beth W
· 6 months ago
Beautiful words. I think you captured a nearly indescribable feeling wonderfully. Thank you.
Katybeth Jensen
· 6 months ago
I have thought of you often lately--My husband died of a heart attack without warning on June 2nd...and when I struggled with writing something for the Memorial service, I thought of you...I was at a loss of words but somehow found them when I went back to read some of your posts.
This was lovely! Thank you.
Chris B-D
· 6 months ago
I remember your guy on the cusp of junior high--he's so grown-up now! How did that happen?? I just realized yesterday that my oldest is halfway to high school--and even at 7 puts on a show of his exasperation with us sometimes. My middle guy has lately asked me to stop using "Baby" as an endearment. And my youngest, who will be 2 tomorrow, is insistently growing up, always grasping opportunities to be independent, even as I want to keep tugging her back into babyhood.
Your essay makes me understand, for the first time, what it will feel like to love *and* let go.
Gradon Tripp
· 6 months ago
A beautiful write up, Ann.
My son is only ten, and a curl-up-beside-you-watching-a-movie kind of ten, too. He has yet to shy away from the love his mother and I show him, but we both know he will. And when he gets past that, and accepts our love in a most adult sort of way, well, I'll just lose it.
Yeah, I'm sappy like that.
Vicki VanV
· 6 months ago
What a fabulous opportunity--I hope he has a great time and learns a lot! Thanks for sharing a parent-and-child moment that is yet to come for us.
Claudia
· 6 months ago
You're an alchimist! Thank you for this exceptional bit of life.
Jen DelMonaco
· 6 months ago
I hope he reads this someday and understands that he gets to be awesome because you see it as a privilege to be sharing his life with him. Pride, like you said PERFECTLY is for the parent and not the kid--that's why I hate that sentiment. It tweaks me every time I hear it. Loved this so much!
Ginny Bartosek
· 6 months ago
So well expressed. Absolutely lovely.
Jenn Calling Home
· 6 months ago
Oh, wow! This one really gets to me. Beautifully said. If you have time, stop by and read my last post of a similar nature, "Graduation and the Leaving."
Amber Naslund
· 6 months ago
It wasn't until I had Abby two years ago that I understood. How deeply and profoundly that love hits you, and often when you least expect it. Your gift to us, Ann - and to him - is your ability to put into words what so many of us feel but could never describe.
Thank you for sharing. Thank you.
Tim Berry
· 6 months ago
Wow, parenting, transitions, constant change; this is so much of what life really is. And it keeps going. Our youngest is 22 now, jumping -- gulp -- very quickly into a new life, and it brings it all back in an instant. Our oldest is almost 37, also still jumping, occasionally, like she did when she was five years old, off of a small stone wall, to break her leg. As parents we watch, and hope, and remind ourselves that they're supposed to run their own lives. But I don't think either me or my wife, parents for almost 37 years now, have ever really managed "arms length." Although we are still trying. Great post again, thanks Ann.
David Reich
· 6 months ago
RISD is a great school and providence is a neat town. I remember it from many years ago, when my sister went there.
I know exactly how you feel. I remember the day we brought our daughter up to Tufts. We were so excited for her, but as we left and as soon as she was out of sight, my wife and I both had to wipe away tears. In the car heading home, neither of us could speak for quite a while, because the lumps in our throats were so big.
Karen
· 6 months ago
"Love rolls downhill". I love that.
You took me both back and forward in time. Back to the day my dad dropped me off at college. I (and probably dad too) felt the way you described yourself - plenty of lumpy throats to go around. Yet this year my nearly 12-yr. old went to Bela Karolyi's gymnastics camp - her first time away with no family, her first time at an "away camp" so I know what you mean about the word pride not really hitting the mark. And I know with my daughter, the coming years will fly far too fast.
Two words came to mind after reading your post, the first a Greek word for love, Agape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape). And the second word, one of my favorites, is bittersweet.
Christian Gulliksen
· 6 months ago
Sweet story, Handley!
Hiro Boga
· 6 months ago
Oh, Ann, thank you for this beautiful post! I've been there with my own sons. There aren't words for the kind of love that fills your heart to the brim, and leaves you speechless. But you've come close . . .
Ann Handley
· 6 months ago
Thanks everyone here.... for the kind words, the understanding, the links. And yes, "bittersweet" is ringing true this weekend, for sure.
Katybeth -- I am so sorry for your loss. I had no idea.
Lisa Healey
· 6 months ago
Aw, Ann! This is so wonderful. My youngest boy just left me to live with his dad on the other side of the country so I know EXACTLY how you felt. He made the decision so maturely that while I was sad, it certainly made me proud. Luckily my oldest doesn't want to do anything but live at home and go to college locally so hopefully your daughter will have the same tendencies.
Be brave!
oxox
Jeb
· 6 months ago
I think I'm on the other end of that cycle. My oldest is just now 10 and beginning that change from being our loving, respectful son to one beginning to test the limits. My initial responses were a pretty clear reflection of how stubborn I can be, but I'm doing better now.
Mostly, I'm seeing that it's his job to find his place, and mine to ensure he has the light by which to operate...even if he doesn't realize I'm there, on the fringe, holding the flashlight.
You've detailed a wonderful story, Ann, and the much needed encouragement we all need from time to time to stay the course.
Thank you...
Sharon - Mom Generations
· 6 months ago
What's the word that describes this kind of love? Perfection.
Jen A.
· 6 months ago
Ann, once again you have put many important sentiments into words. The journey to adulthood always seems so long (and unforgiving these days). Then all of a sudden, "poof" it happens when we least expect it. Dropped Isabelle at summer camp yesterday. Sniff. Thank you- this was just what I needed!
Carrie
· 6 months ago
Wow. That just made me cry a little. I'm glad you had a good "goodbye" from your son. The love and maturity that he showed with it is a demonstation of what a wonderful job you must have done as a mother. Kudos. :)
Steve Woodruff
· 6 months ago
Thanks for writing this. Trying to swallow the lump now. Not succeeding.
GiGi
· 6 months ago
Ann, Great post and what a milestone for you and your son! With a 9 year old and a 12 year old, I both dread and hope for a day like you described! Love reading your work!
Paul Chaney
· 6 months ago
I remember that day too, when my eldest finally grew up enough inside himself to say "thank you." Took longer than age 17, but well worth the wait.
Sometimes, the words aren't there.. (from Annarchy): [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
Mandy Vavrinak
· 6 months ago
Ann,
Thank you for sharing your experience. My oldest boy is 14, starting high school in a month and I am beginning to see flashes of the man he's struggling to become. They are fleeting moments of maturity, sprinkled here and there amidst the normal teenage angst of his days. But I know the feeling you describe... And agree, it's not pride. When he looks at me, after an actual conversation, and tells me "thanks" just for getting it, it's hard to best that feeling. It's all the protective, consuming love you feel for your newborn--matured, tested, refined--and you know, in that moment anyway, that he's going to make it. Thanks for putting your emotions into such eloquent words :)
Beth Harte
· 6 months ago
What a great piece Ann! I don't have kids...but now I feel totally guilty for being the eye-rolling teenager that I was even when my parents gave so much of what they could. Thanks for reminding us all that love rolls down hill (and uphill, sideways and in circles sometimes). ;-)
Steve Alker
· 6 months ago
A timely reminder Ann – Cameron has already done his introductory experience for the army and in a couple of years, vet-school will probably beckon for Gabby.
I often wondered what went through my parent’s minds when they shipped me off to five different universities for my interviews. The panel at St Andrews really summed it up though: I had to go up for a viva because I won a scholarship there and afterwards, my abiding memory was a question from the Master of United College.
In an intimidating oak panelled room decorated with portraits of past vice chancellors, (It was called the Hebdomader’s Room) the deans were seated round a huge polished table. The Master said, “Mr Alker, is there any reason we should be aware of, as to why your choices of potential universities are all outside a 200 mile radius of your home?”
I must have given an acceptable answer as I got the scholarship and a couple of years later, when I had closely worked with him on student matters, he told me that as head of discipline, his nightmare was not unruly students, but over-interfering parents, so having mine at the end of a six hour journey from home was a blessing!
Doesn’t sound as though your lad will be one of the former or you one of the latter!
@surtisunanto i don't even have a kid and was misty eyes when i read that damn @hertantya re: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
Donna Tocci
· 6 months ago
Ann - your son is lucky to have you as his Mom and we, your readers, are lucky that you share all of these wonderful experiences with us. You have outdone yourself this time.
Incredible essay about parenthood RT @MarketingProfs Sometimes, words just fail me: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
Susanna
· 6 months ago
Absolutely beautiful.
Noreen
· 6 months ago
A very timely piece to read since I just left my 11 year old off at camp yesterday. This is our third year and each drop-off is different. She was nervous, excited, and not sure how to say goodbye to me (though I know it was harder than she let on). Thanks for sharing your story. It brought tears to my eyes and reminds me that time is moving quickly for us as a family and to cherish each drop-off and transition with our loved ones. It is a great honor to love my daughter and to experience that love you describe. The one you would gladly suffer for. Beautiful.
Jeff Rothe
· 6 months ago
Ann,
I should be completing a Status Report about my meeting today, AND, I had to thank you for so eloquently expressing the feelings that proud parents have when their child shows signs of maturity -- or is it signs of them becoming what we really wanted them to be? Or is it signs that they have responded the way WE wish we had?
Less tweeting, more blogging; please!
BARQ (Jeff)
Bethann
· 6 months ago
Ann - as always a great piece that cuts to the heart. As the mother of a soon to be college freshmen, I feel much of the same. You know I'll be calling you for a shoulder to cry on. Love, Bethann
Farayi Kambarami
· 6 months ago
Ann, I think the word is "LOVE". You already knew that, right? As always this is another brilliant piece of writing that takes me right to that college campus where you were with your son. I can't wait until its my turn, although its still another 15 or so years away. In the meantime, I better continue investing in the bond that we have already started building. Once again thanks for letting us into your amazing world.
Gwen Dille
· 5 months ago
What a beautiful post -- thank you for taking the time to write it and for reminding all of us parents about the unbelievable gift we've been given. There's nothing more amazing and awe-inspiring than the opportunity to love someone as much as we love our children and to watch them grow each day into the people they were meant to become.
Chris Blackman
· 5 months ago
So well put. Try distilling that to 140 characters - it would have become meaningless.
As my Dad often tells me about parenting - it's just the first fifty or sixty years that are hard, after that it gets easier.
Well done Ann. I've signed up for the RSS!
zil
· 5 months ago
Ahhh Ann - Perfectly put - again.
I just spent over a week in the endless rain with my husband's extended family. Along the way I had a private heart to heart with my days shy of 51 year old child-less brother in law about parenting. He is seriously involved with a much younger woman and is surveying his friends with the question "if it was physically possible would you have another child ...now." After much discussion and opinion sharing I finally said if you've never had a child you should, it doesn't matter how old you are. You can't imagine the love, feelings and emotions that lie dormant in you - age shouldn't matter if you are not limited physically. He looked at me amazed and said I was the first to say that- all of his friends, peers, parents with teenagers and/or younger children seemed to focus more on the "work" or the required energy and the "oh, I could never do it again." Your post puts into words what I never seem able to put into words - thanks for sharing your gift.
Randall Goldman
· 5 months ago
Until you have a child you never understand that lump in the throat. Thank you for showing a human side of the world during a time we all need an escape.
Michelle Farnum
· 5 months ago
This is when yiddish comes in handy. I'm neither a parent nor a jew, but after spending 20 years in Madison Avenue agencies I picked up some good words. Kvell is one of them. Yiddish is the best language. They have word that describe undescrib-able feelings.
Gavin Heaton
· 5 months ago
@Michelle Farnum - that is a great word! Kvell.
Thanks Ann ... this is why blogs are not dead ;) Where else do we get a story that touches our hearts because it comes from the heart? It must be exciting (and slightly daunting) to be pushing your child out into the ocean of life. Of course, as we do so - with great care - we imagine our kids as small boats made of folded newspaper. Yet when they return they are seaworthy, burnished by the salt and riding the waves.
I hope I am as brave as you when my kids head off to college. Oh, and are you writing a book? You should.
Roshan
· 5 months ago
Touching, heart-warming & tender. A great write up about your feelings. I don't know your son but I know he has a terrific mom. As I read it I was actually imagining the scene unfolding in front of me.
ChatAboutIt.com proudly presents stock market connoisseur, Phil Grande. He is famous for his predictions that counteract the run of the mill advice and has been successful in predicting the stock market crash in May of 2007 and October of 2008. With his phrase, “I’m going to tell you what Wall Street doesn’t want you to know!” Phil will guide your investments and help you keep your coin. Listen in Weekdays from 3pm – 4pm and hopefully you’ll be making a profit too!
C.C. Chapman
· 5 months ago
Here I am getting ready to drop my daughter off for her first overnight camp (only 3 days) and my son for his first week of camp and this post brought up all kinds of emotions.
As always your writing captures the magic and emotion of the moment. Please never stop sharing. Pretty please.
RT @digitaldads A must read for parents as we send our kids away to camp - [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
Diane Court
· 5 months ago
Ann, this is so right! You have so perfectly captured this threshold moment of parent and children in which we feel that extraordinary connection and their being in and of their own person. As my son reaches his 21st birthday today and my daughter, 17, heads to college orientation in just a few days, I celebrate this moment with you. Thank you.
leigh durst
· 5 months ago
You make me laugh and cry at the same time, all the time. Such a culmination of years, raw experience and emotion. I hope he has a blast and embraces his gifts like you do. ;-)
Brad
· 4 months ago
Beautiful article, Ann...I'm usually at a loss to explain the joys of parenting to someone that doesn't have children. I just realized that the lump in the throat is beyond words. Well, it was until a few minutes ago.
Alexis Ceule
· 4 months ago
Thank you so much for this. *sniff* I hope my 11 yr old son and I have a moment even close to this when the time comes. ; )
B.L. Ochman
· 3 months ago
jeez ann - every time i read one of your posts i say to myself "wow! this is the best one yet!"
but ya know what? This one IS the best yet. Wow! you write circles around everyone else. BL
Jenni H
· 3 months ago
As tears roll down my face, I am deeply touched by your loss for words. I'm a mom of young children and I can only imagine what it will be like when my kids are going to camp and college. I also like your observation that love rolls downhill. You don't fully realize it all until you are a parent and appreciate the circle of life. I hope your son had a wonderful experience!
Stephanie Smirnov
· 3 months ago
This post leaves me breathless. Just beautiful. I wish I knew the word for that kind of love because I know exactly what you're talking about it. I feel it every time I lay eyes on my six year old son. How I hope he and I reach the wonderful place you've gotten to with your son.
All Comments
This was lovely! Thank you.
Your essay makes me understand, for the first time, what it will feel like to love *and* let go.
My son is only ten, and a curl-up-beside-you-watching-a-movie kind of ten, too. He has yet to shy away from the love his mother and I show him, but we both know he will. And when he gets past that, and accepts our love in a most adult sort of way, well, I'll just lose it.
Yeah, I'm sappy like that.
Thank you for this exceptional bit of life.
Thank you for sharing. Thank you.
Great post again, thanks Ann.
I know exactly how you feel. I remember the day we brought our daughter up to Tufts. We were so excited for her, but as we left and as soon as she was out of sight, my wife and I both had to wipe away tears. In the car heading home, neither of us could speak for quite a while, because the lumps in our throats were so big.
You took me both back and forward in time. Back to the day my dad dropped me off at college. I (and probably dad too) felt the way you described yourself - plenty of lumpy throats to go around. Yet this year my nearly 12-yr. old went to Bela Karolyi's gymnastics camp - her first time away with no family, her first time at an "away camp" so I know what you mean about the word pride not really hitting the mark. And I know with my daughter, the coming years will fly far too fast.
Two words came to mind after reading your post, the first a Greek word for love, Agape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape). And the second word, one of my favorites, is bittersweet.
Katybeth -- I am so sorry for your loss. I had no idea.
Be brave!
oxox
Mostly, I'm seeing that it's his job to find his place, and mine to ensure he has the light by which to operate...even if he doesn't realize I'm there, on the fringe, holding the flashlight.
You've detailed a wonderful story, Ann, and the much needed encouragement we all need from time to time to stay the course.
Thank you...
Great post and what a milestone for you and your son! With a 9 year old and a 12 year old, I both dread and hope for a day like you described! Love reading your work!
<div title="thismommygig (This Mommy Gig)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="thismommygig (This Mommy Gig)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/thismommygig) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
Sometimes, the words aren't there.. (from Annarchy): [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
Thank you for sharing your experience. My oldest boy is 14, starting high school in a month and I am beginning to see flashes of the man he's struggling to become. They are fleeting moments of maturity, sprinkled here and there amidst the normal teenage angst of his days. But I know the feeling you describe... And agree, it's not pride. When he looks at me, after an actual conversation, and tells me "thanks" just for getting it, it's hard to best that feeling. It's all the protective, consuming love you feel for your newborn--matured, tested, refined--and you know, in that moment anyway, that he's going to make it. Thanks for putting your emotions into such eloquent words :)
I often wondered what went through my parent’s minds when they shipped me off to five different universities for my interviews. The panel at St Andrews really summed it up though: I had to go up for a viva because I won a scholarship there and afterwards, my abiding memory was a question from the Master of United College.
In an intimidating oak panelled room decorated with portraits of past vice chancellors, (It was called the Hebdomader’s Room) the deans were seated round a huge polished table. The Master said, “Mr Alker, is there any reason we should be aware of, as to why your choices of potential universities are all outside a 200 mile radius of your home?”
I must have given an acceptable answer as I got the scholarship and a couple of years later, when I had closely worked with him on student matters, he told me that as head of discipline, his nightmare was not unruly students, but over-interfering parents, so having mine at the end of a six hour journey from home was a blessing!
Doesn’t sound as though your lad will be one of the former or you one of the latter!
Best wishes
Steve
<div title="DonnaPapacosta (Donna Papacosta)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="DonnaPapacosta (Donna Papacosta)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/DonnaPapacosta) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
I love this motherhood piece by the wonderful Ann Handley [link to post] (@MarketingProfs)
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="Sue_Horner (Sue Horner)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="Sue_Horner (Sue Horner)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/Sue_Horner) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
@DonnaPapacosta I had the same feeling as Ann Handley [link to post] dropping each son off at the dorm for univ year 1!
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="pierres (Pierre Schaeffer)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="pierres (Pierre Schaeffer)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/pierres) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
Another beautiful, inspiring gift from Ann: RT @MarketingProfs: Sometimes, words just fail me: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="BarbAtSea (Barbara Hart)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="BarbAtSea (Barbara Hart)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/BarbAtSea) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
Lovely. RT @MarketingProfs: Morning, everyone. Thanks for all the love on my "At a Loss for Words" post: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="pmarnandus (Patsy Marnandus)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="pmarnandus (Patsy Marnandus)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/pmarnandus) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
RT @hertantya: A beautiful writing on the purest form of love 1 could ever find RT @MarketingProfs:"At a Loss for Words" [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="DJNoRequest (greg daly)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="DJNoRequest (greg daly)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/DJNoRequest) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
Very touching RT @BarbAtSea: Lovely. RT @MarketingProfs: Morning, everyone. "At a Loss for Words": [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="missfword (Farina Situmorang)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="missfword (Farina Situmorang)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/missfword) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
@surtisunanto i don't even have a kid and was misty eyes when i read that damn @hertantya re: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="errin (errin cecil-smith)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="errin (errin cecil-smith)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/errin) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
@MarketingProfs think the word u r looking for may be victory. ever time my kids do something like your son is doing i feel victory for them
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="jamesIII (James O'Connor)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="jamesIII (James O'Connor)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/jamesIII) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
@MarketingProfs great post Ann! I laughed out loud a few times thinking back to my teen years. Then I emailed it to my mom and thanked her!
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="neil_a_robinson (Neil Robinson)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="neil_a_robinson (Neil Robinson)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/neil_a_robinson) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
Incredible essay about parenthood RT @MarketingProfs Sometimes, words just fail me: [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
I should be completing a Status Report about my meeting today, AND, I had to thank you for so eloquently expressing the feelings that proud parents have when their child shows signs of maturity -- or is it signs of them becoming what we really wanted them to be? Or is it signs that they have responded the way WE wish we had?
Less tweeting, more blogging; please!
BARQ (Jeff)
You know I'll be calling you for a shoulder to cry on.
Love, Bethann
As my Dad often tells me about parenting - it's just the first fifty or sixty years that are hard, after that it gets easier.
Well done Ann. I've signed up for the RSS!
I just spent over a week in the endless rain with my husband's extended family. Along the way I had a private heart to heart with my days shy of 51 year old child-less brother in law about parenting. He is seriously involved with a much younger woman and is surveying his friends with the question "if it was physically possible would you have another child ...now." After much discussion and opinion sharing I finally said if you've never had a child you should, it doesn't matter how old you are. You can't imagine the love, feelings and emotions that lie dormant in you - age shouldn't matter if you are not limited physically. He looked at me amazed and said I was the first to say that- all of his friends, peers, parents with teenagers and/or younger children seemed to focus more on the "work" or the required energy and the "oh, I could never do it again." Your post puts into words what I never seem able to put into words - thanks for sharing your gift.
Yiddish is the best language. They have word that describe undescrib-able feelings.
Thanks Ann ... this is why blogs are not dead ;) Where else do we get a story that touches our hearts because it comes from the heart? It must be exciting (and slightly daunting) to be pushing your child out into the ocean of life. Of course, as we do so - with great care - we imagine our kids as small boats made of folded newspaper. Yet when they return they are seaworthy, burnished by the salt and riding the waves.
I hope I am as brave as you when my kids head off to college. Oh, and are you writing a book? You should.
http://chataboutit.com/about/phils-gang-radio-s...
ChatAboutIt.com proudly presents stock market connoisseur, Phil Grande. He is famous for his predictions that counteract the run of the mill advice and has been successful in predicting the stock market crash in May of 2007 and October of 2008. With his phrase, “I’m going to tell you what Wall Street doesn’t want you to know!” Phil will guide your investments and help you keep your coin. Listen in Weekdays from 3pm – 4pm and hopefully you’ll be making a profit too!
As always your writing captures the magic and emotion of the moment. Please never stop sharing. Pretty please.
Thank you. *grin*
<div title="digitaldads (Digital Dads)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="digitaldads (Digital Dads)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/digitaldads) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
A must read for parents as we send our kids away to camp - [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
<div title="OberonDesign (Oberon Design)" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(WP_PLUGIN_URL/chatcatcher/picbg.jpg) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
<div title="OberonDesign (Oberon Design)" style="float:left;margin-left:-70px;margin-right:10px;padding:0;width:60px;height:60px;background:url(http://purl.org/net/spiurl/OberonDesign) no-repeat top;cursor:hand;">
</div>
RT @digitaldads A must read for parents as we send our kids away to camp - [link to post]
- Posted using Chat Catcher
but ya know what? This one IS the best yet. Wow!
you write circles around everyone else.
BL