Moving Day...

A couple of weeks ago it was moving day for Critter and Burda, and it was a good thing because it brought them closer to home. But I realized while we were going through boxes and arranging the new place that there is a very fine line between the crazy pride I feel when I see the adults they are becoming, and the nearly debilitating sadness I feel about the children they will never be again. I know as parents our main job is to raise functioning and contributing members of society, or at least I knew that in theory. But I just don't think I ever truly prepared myself for the time when they would be out on their own, acting all grown up. The time just went by too quickly and I would give my left arm to get a few hours of it back. There is so much I would love to go back and warn them about.....credit card companies, stupid boys and speeding tickets being just a few. But more importantly than that, I would make sure they know how very much I love their faces! To say I am proud to be their Mom is about the biggest understatement I could possibly make. I used to wonder what in the world possessed me to have the Little Man so late in life. I could literally see that empty nest stage from where I was then. But now I know....it was to save me from the empty nest stage!! I just don't think I would have handled living in a childless house very well. I am lucky enough to be married to a man I love dearly, and I know we would have made the most of that time. The house to ourselves, travel whenever we saw fit, but I am just not built for that for the long haul. I need the noise and the confusion and the chaos that kids bring to a home!! I kind of thrive on it if I am being honest. Those three kids represent the best choices I have ever made and I would not go back and change any of it. Not for all the money the lottery gods could throw at me.