Joan Ellen Cornell: mothers day

10:13 PM

On being a mom...

I was listening to the radio today, Alice 105.9 to be exact- they have the BEST talk radio. I especially like it in the early morning, they've had me in tears so many times from laughing so hard, haha.

But tonight on my way to the grocery store, they were on a more serious note. They were talking about raising children.

They made a few awesome points. They talked about how so many parents treat their children kind of like a science project- we push them in the direction that we would have wanted for ourselves growing up, and we spend so much time worrying and stressing about how our child is going to turn out someday. They talked about how children are pushed and pressured to do things, and that even without all the pushing and the pressure, they will probably end up being just as good at that even if they weren't pushed and pressured. Meaning pushing a kid to do something doesn't necessarily make them awesome at it in the long run.

They talked about how parents just need to enjoy life and treat their child like any other human who will turn out to be their own individual in the future. We need to not spend as much time worrying how they will turn out and spend our time with our child, having fun and enjoying each other.

Now, I will never be the kind of parent who will push my child to do something they don't want to do (although I will sign him up for lots of sports and activities and let him choose what he likes and doesn't like), but as much as I wish I didn't, I definitely worry about how I raise Porter and the choices I make for him will impact who is he someday.

I think that more importantly, I need to actually BE the kind of person that I want Porter to learn from. Like, make good choices and have good morals and be kind and trustworthy, and have goals and aspirations. Then maybe some of it will just rub off on him :) Rather than worrying about what I can do to turn him into a good human being, I will be the best person I can be!

I am really excited about Mother's Day. Even though we will be traveling on Sunday, the destination includes my Mom, and nothing can be better than getting to be with her on my first Mother's Day ever.

I love my Mom. A lot. It's really hard living so far away from her, but we talk on the phone or Skype pretty much every single day. She's the first person I want to call when something really good, or something really bad happens. She's pretty much my best friend :)

We had our moments, mostly when I was a huge brat in high school, but she was an amazing mom even through those moments. She raised my sister and I for a long time on her own, and I think she did a terrific job. She was always such an independent person, and I do believe I got that quality from her. She has always been supportive of any decision i've made, even if it wasn't necessarily what she would have wanted (me moving to Colorado...) and I can't put into words how important that is to me, and how much respect I have for her for being that way.

Love You Mom :)