She will keep you young...

or just remind you that you aren't as young as you used to be!! I have started to go to a play group/toddler time at our library so Nora can socialize with other babies her age...she has only been around our immediate family and older children since she came home so it's important that she get that baby time. Well, let's just say that this will be a work in progress..for both of us. Nora is very social, her face lights up when she sees other little ones but I feel like I am always on guard with her, never quite sure when she might reach out and grab an ear, or hair or poke a nose..we are working on play date manners I promise.

Returning to the library after so many years of being away has been interesting. I am, by my observations, the oldest mom in the group. It is a totally different experience for me this time around. I look at all the younger moms, most of them with their first child and it is almost impossible for me to remember what that world was like...when you had time to blow dry your hair, put on your best skinny jeans and stylish black boots and off you go. I wondered if any of them would notice that I most likely had some form of dry cereal or goop on my sweater b/c mornings are just chaos in our house, no time to do the quick check in the mirror before I leave the house. Although I secretly coveted one mom's great boots and wished I had a pair I am so happy to be where I am in my life right now...being a mom again at 41 with a baby has given me a totally different outlook on so many things. I try not to sweat the small stuff, the key word is TRY..when Nora was putting a million different toys in her mouth or pulling all the DVD's off of the shelf I just calmly put them back and I stopped telling her to just "pretend" it's a cup and not put it in her mouth...kids get sick, germs are everywhere, that is life. At one point I had several moms ask me lots of questions about Nora or what schools my older children went to, advice on preschools etc and it was like I was holding court...and I thought at one time in my life I was where these young moms are now, just trying to figure it all out, and there were moms before me that gave me a hand up and helped me out when I had no idea where to go for preschool or how to even get started...so, although I envy how much easier the younger moms got out of the little chairs compared to the way I did, I was thankful that maybe in some small way my experiences as a mom maybe helped just one mom out today...I will go back to the play group again because it's important for Nora and in some ways it's important for me too because there are many facets to my life, my oldest is 13 and my youngest is 13 months...I have many more years of sitting in the little chairs at the library watching Nora play and become her own little person. Looking back I guess that's how I became more comfortable in my own skin as well, by watching and observing and participating in life, in being a mom...I am so thankful for the gifts my children have given me that have shaped the kind of mom I am today.

K