Love Hurts

When I was a kid, I loved my parents.  I loved my sisters and even my cats.  I loved my grandparents and all my friends...well, most of them.  Then I got a little older and found out what it meant to love a boy.  I had a few loves...some worth my love and some not so much.  Then I found my true love (as cheesy and corny as that sounds), and learned that whole other side to love that comes with marriage.  But nothing could have prepared me for the kind of love I found 13 years ago, then again 10 years ago, then again 8 years ago, and again now.

Being a mom is a whole new kind of love. I feel like as a mom, you expose your heart so much that pain is inevitable.  When your child hurts, you hurt...end of story.  I just want my kids to be happy, to rise to their full potential, to see how amazing they are and to never doubt how much they are loved.  I believe if everyone could see the love their mother has for them, they would never feel alone, never feel lost, never feel inadequate.

This week we got report cards in the mail (a little late because I always forget to get the mail these days).  I opened one up and raved about how great one of my children had done.  Then I opened the other one up, and immediately regretted making a fuss about the first one.  I watched my child look at the grades on that paper and decide that they weren't as smart as they thought they were (and the grades were not bad, just not as good as their sibling).  It hurt my heart.

I know this is just the beginning of watching my kids go through things that might hurt them, but it's tough.  So now, I will go on loving my kids...hopefully showing them just a glimpse into how wonderful they are and how fantastic they can become.

My 3 beauties, summer 2010

Here they are this past summer 2013