My gratitude at being a 46 year-old naturally pregnant woman was further cemented by my sonographer today. She saw my date of birth and said, “Why, I am only one year older than you, with three grandchildren, and am just starting to go through menopause.” And all I thought to myself were two things: 1.) “I am lucky to have a healthy pregnancy at my age”, and 2.) “Oh my gosh, what am I doing?” But here is what I am looking forward to:
-Staying youthful as I will be spending the next several years doing kids’ stuff with my kids.
-Being a wise and patient parent.
-Spending a lot of quality time with my children.
-Pouring over homework with enthusiasm.
-Being the oldest (probably) mom at the graduations.
-Staying fit and healthy because I know I will be the oldest mom at the graduations!
-Giving my kids the best of me.
It is a bit bizarre to think that with this child, I will be 64 at his/her high school graduation. But 60 is the new 50. And I can pull off 50 just fine. I’m only 4 years shy of it, and still look all right. (With make up and styled hair and clothes, that is.) That alone is going to incentivize me to get into an exercise program for the long haul. I don’t want to embarrass my kids. O.K. I am getting ahead of myself and looking into a far off future. Let’s get through the next three weeks and materialize a healthy baby. Let’s get through infancy, if I can darn well remember what to do, then take it from there. My daughter asks me how old I am from time to time. I used to lie and say 32 because I didn’t think she could fathom a higher number, nor did I think it held any meaning for her.Who am I kidding? I was too embarrassed to say. But lately I have changed the practice to telling her the truth because, come on, I just can't lie to her. Tonite she asked me again. And I again told her the truth. She said, “Forty-six? Gosh. That is big. That is old. That is like Mrs. Moises (her teacher).” To which I quickly responded, “I’m not quite as old as her, honey.” I figure I might as well let the cat out of the bag with my kids and be honest Abe when it comes to my age. I know that it will get out in school one day and I will be the topic of conversation from time to time. But I don’t agree that lying or withholding the truth is the way to go either. I have confidence that they will be on my side, defend me, and not let others’ comments get to them. Such as, “Your mom is so old.” I will just have to do some marathons during their school years, so that they have a cushion against any such idle talk. They can come back with, “My mom may have a high chronological age, but she looks good and can run 26 miles in four hours without stopping!” As you can see, I have put some thought into this. It felt good to let me daughter know my age. Although, my honesty theory already has holes in it, because Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are all very real to my daughter. What a hypocrite I am! Oh well, you can’t be consistent all of the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment