WHEN MY CHILDREN HURT –

WHEN MY CHILDREN HURT

…I HURT

“Motherhood is seeing your heart walk around outside your body and hoping the world is gentle with it.” – Elizabeth Stone.

Boy is that an understatement!

From their first cry, fall, scraped knee, fall off their bike, hurt feelings, time being bullied, loss of a pet, loss of a loved one, and on and on, as their mother, when they hurt, I hurt. It seems to hurt me more when it happens to them than it did when it happened to me. I believe this is why we, as moms, are always trying to give them advice and the wisdom that we have gained through our own life experiences.

As a child, and even as a teen, I listened to those stories my mom told me about growing up. (She would probably disagree, though, since I did still do things that she thought I shouldn’t.) I really did take them to heart. There were a LOT of things that I didn’t do because I learned from her mistakes. At a young age I realized that she did have more experiences than I had and I could learn from them and her.

I tried, and still try, to give my children the life lessons I have learned through my decades. I have tried to do it through stories (making them as humorous as possible so that they are more entertaining and, hopefully, stick in their brain) and not lectures. I hope that they have listened because I don’t want them to have to go through some of the things that I have gone through.

My children are now adults. They are living their lives. Yet, when they are hurting, I am hurting along with them. I know that this will never change.