Motherhood Series - Jocelyn

Ok, this is my mom. Cool heh?
To be honest, this past year has been incredibly difficult and mostly miserable for my mom. She spent almost the ENTIRE YEAR in the hospital with largely undiagnosed health issues while she suffered with a critical illness. Today she is home with my Dad (who had his own cancer crisis), and recovery her health slowly but surely.
It has been a long painful year for my whole family and a big reason why I haven't been here much. I may go into a bit more detail at a later date, if for no other reason than to sort it all out for myself. My mom and I have always been close and it has been heartbreaking to see her suffer.

And so it is with much gratitude and prayer and hope and finally relief that she is here today. It is a joy-full Mother's Day!

Mom I love you! I am thankful for the woman you are and the mother you have always been.

MUCH LOVE from all of us!

1. Tell us about yourself!

I had my children fairly young - age 20 when the first was born and 28 when the last was born. When my children were small I was a stay at home mom and for most of the time they were growing up. At age 60 I am now a grandmother, and my husband and I are "empty nesters". This doesn't change the fact that I am still a mother and that relationship will always be there.

2. What were your expectations of motherhood before you had kids?

I always wanted kids and looked forward to the time I would have them. I thought having kids and trying to raise them well was the most important thing I could do in my life. I wanted 6 kids and my husband wanted 2, so we compromised and had 4 - 1 boy and 3 girls.

3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood?

I think the thing that surprised me the most was how different each of my children are and how early those differences showed up. That made it a challenge to treat them all as individuals and allow and encourage those differences.

4. Biggest joy?

Watching my kids learn new things and seeing their excitement when they achieved something that was important to them.

5. Best wish for your children?
To be happy! I know that sounds simple and maybe a little trite, but ultimately that is what I want - in whatever situation they are in and whatever period their lives are going through now. They may not be exactly where they would like to be right now, but I want them to be happy where they are at.

6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?

I was fortunate to have a husband who was a great babysitter, so I was able to have some time to do my own thing, and of course when the kids were all in school there was more time for me. I like to be creative and do things with my hands, and one way I found time to do this was to have my children do it with me. That way I was sometimes able to persue my interests and spend time with my children too.

7. What do you wish you had more of?

While I tried to spend time with each of my children individually, I don't think there was ever as much time for that as I would have liked. I feel the same about spending time with my grandchildren.

Less of?

The everyday have-tos that took time away from them.

8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?

This is an interesting question when your children are all adults. I can see things in each of them that I wish they hadn't learned from me. Some things I hope they have learned from me are that family is the most important thing; you can do anything you want if you're willing to work at it - never stop learning; books are our friends; and do what you know is right.

9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother?

Some things I learned from my mother are to value family, those present and our ancestors; be dependable - if you say you'll do something then do it, and do it the best you can; and to sew and be creative.