Happy Mother’s Day to InspyRomance mothers — both authors and readers! While we’re not all mothers, we all do have mothers — some of whom have gone on ahead of us, and some of whom are still here with us.
To tell you the truth, when I thought about what topic to write for my blog post, one day before Mother’s Day, I ended up reflecting back on my own motherhood. From a perspective of an empty-nesting Christian mother, I suppose my reflections are tinged with sighs of relief LOL that we all survived.
Mothers with many children have told me that their older kids sometimes help with their younger kids. Since my son is an only child, everything has been new and everything has been difficult (even though I grew up with a household of brothers).
If you’re a mother, what do you remember most about raising your children?
I remember those early days of my motherhood, when I had to learn how to hold a big baby properly and how to change an unlimited amount of diapers. Don’t laugh, but when I was pregnant, I took a course on how to change diapers (I’m academic that way LOL).
I also remember the days of teaching my son to talk and walk. Apparently, running was instinctive, but walking, I had to teach him.
And then it was on to reading and writing. Those days of learning phonics and stringing words together to make sentences were super fun. And I’m happy to report that we learned cursive in homeschool. It was part of our handwriting class in the elementary school years. Reading, writing, communicating, growing up…
Speaking of that (I’m trying not to shed a tear here), the old adage is true: “They grow up fast.”
And then they’re out the door, it seems.
What do you remember about your own childhood?
I hope you had a happy, memorable, and delightful childhood yourself. I have wonderful memories of mine. I know we took many photographs, but often my father was behind the camera, so he wasn’t always in the photos. When I married and started a family of my own, I tried to remind myself that I should be in the photographs too. Like my father, I tend to spend more time behind my phone camera, trying to capture memories of my own family.
My son just finished his first year in college. Imagine, a whole freshman year is over. I’m still processing that fact LOL. I think my hair is graying more as I think about the idea of having a child in college. Suddenly, my husband and I are by ourselves again (as we were for years before our son was born), and yes, we have to mow our own lawn now. Haha!
I remember thinking about what it would be like to be an empty-nester when I wrote Wish You Joy (Savannah Sweethearts Book 9) a few years ago. In this book, widowed Mrs. Untermeyer’s three children left home many years ago. While they were gone, she had to depend on her church and sympathetic friends to get along. After some surgeries and feeling her age, she decides she has to sell the company business, which she can no longer run on her own. That is when her daughter finds out that the majority share of the family business has now gone to a total stranger.
And she comes home.
In real life, I think many mothers anticipate that their adult children would “come home” from time to time to visit them, if at all possible. I’m no exception. I love it every time my son comes home from college for his school breaks or just for the weekend. And I know my own mother is delighted whenever I get an opportunity to see her. Time is always running out, it seems.
Do you live far away from your parents or closest relatives?
How do you travel to visit them? Do you drive a long way or do you fly? Anyone here sail home? Cycle home? Walk home?
Gone are the old days when most families live in the same township or area so that they don’t even have to use a phone to call home. These days, many family members spread out for work or their own lives, not only across state lines, but sometimes to other countries as well. FaceTime, Skype, and live videos don’t always make up for the geographic distance between family members, do they?
Mothers, whether you live far or near your children and family, I wish you a wonderful Mother’s Day, and I pray that the Lord will bless you with His amazing provisions and grace. I do love the passage of Proverbs 31 that talks about the virtuous woman. This verse below is a good reminder for me to focus on Christ and Him alone, no matter the season or celebration!
“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).
Happy Mother’s Day!
In Christ,
Jan Thompson
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
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Hi Jan, happy mothers day to you and everyone one else:)
My kids are still young- our biggest learning goes into how to interact with/treat others- lessons in not being selfish etc. When the boys were babies, they were not great day sleepers at all- so it made for looong days- but they were pretty good at night which made it all bearable!
My husband and I live far from our parents- we typically drive to see them, 2 days to hubbys, 1 day to my mum. We absolutely love it when the extended family get together- and having just found out that my sister-in-law is pregnant with baby number 2 means a family get together coming up sometime early next year:)
Blessings:)
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Hi Jan! Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Inspy Romance authors and their readers. My mom passed in 2007. She was an inspiration to me as a woman, wife, mother, and grandmother. I was fortunate to always live within a few hours drive and most of my life lived in the same town. As an empty nester, all three sons live in same state and the oldest two with their children live in the same town. I see the grandkids on a daily basis at Oma’s Day Care and Before & After School Care. I am especially close with my two granddaughter ages 5 & 2, since I have been watching them 4 days a week since they were 3 months old. The five year old comes to Oma’s because over the weekend she never receives any love or food. In fact sometimes on the weekend in the evenings we FaceTime just for a kiss from Oma. Recently on the way to school, she told Opa that this summer she knows how to walk to our house. We live 5 blocks away. As a mom and grandma, I am delighted when I receive an unexpected text or visit from my sons. Wishes everyone a delightful weekend.
Happy Mother’s Day!
As my parents age, I am so grateful that they live nearby! In fact today is my Mom’s birthday, so we took them out to breakfast?
I don’t have children, though I do have 10 nieces and nephews, and 13 great nieces and nephews! I still have my Mom with me, and we spend almost every minute of every day together. I treasure my time with her, as I know I won’t always have her here with me. She’s just had her 95th Birthday.
I’m blessed with three wonderful kids, two sons in law, and 4 grandchildren with one on the way. We retired to Kentucky to be close to them. We’re 4 minutes by car from our oldest and the rest are only an hour and a half away in Nashville. They are coming up today so we can all have lunch together for my birthday and celebrate mothers day tomorrow . It has been wonderful to be able to visit easily and do daycare for our grandkids who are close.
Raising them was busy but fun ! Grandkids are wonderful!
So blessed to have my son’s family living next door on the farm! Yes, a phone call or text might go unanswered, but the response may show up at the door three minutes later. :) Our daughter’s family isn’t TOO far away, but not close enough for drop-ins.
For a time we lived within a few blocks of my parents – lived there when my dad passed away in 1998, but we’d moved to the farm long before my mom joined him in 2010. Still, a relatively easy day trip, and I valued that. My husband’s parents live under five miles away so he sees them often on his days off.
We definitely value having multiple generations nearby. So thankful.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. My mother and my mother-in-law are both with the Lord. I lost my mother way too early when my own children were only 3 and 4. They live on the east coast of the US, and I live in the southwest part of the country, so we are miles and miles apart. I’m thankful for video calls.
Hello! Thank you for your comment. However, I am not doing a giveaway in this particular blog post. I will though, soon, in the months to come! However, I am sure there are many giveaways among the nearly three dozen authors of IR, so be on the lookout for opportunity to win! Have a wonderful weekend!
Wemble, Happy Mother’s Day to you too! I hope you’re having a lovely weekend with your family!
Yes, my son slept through the night by the time he was six months old. So I never had to experience the sleepless night struggles other new moms had. In fact I would rush to the baby room to see if he was alive coz he was so quiet LOL!
That’s quite a drive to see the grandparents! I hope you were able to fill your road trips e.g. maybe with some audiobooks from the library.
Congrats to your SIL! New babies are so precious! I hope you have a wonderful family reunion!
Happy Mother’s Day again and thank you for commenting!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Thank you for commenting!
Thank you so much! And may I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day too!
Thank you for commenting!
:-)
Thank you, Patty, for your comments! Indeed, it’s a blessing for aging parents to be nearby! That’s nice that you can have a meal together.
Happy Birthday to your mom, and Happy Mother’s Day to her too!
:-)
Trudy, wowee! So many relatives. I lost count after cousin #4 from my mother’s side of the family. My father’s side has fewer kids, but now they all have grandchildren, so I’ve lost track TBH!
I am so glad you still have your mom with you. Happy 95th birthday to her! That is an amazing age, and God is always good, isn’t He! That means she has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren!
I agree that time with our moms is so precious. Indeed, we need to treasure it.
Thank you again for your comments. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your mom!
Thank you, Diana! Happy Mother’s Day to you! I am so glad that everyone is visiting you for your birthday and for the Mother’s Day weekend! What a celebration with a full house!
Kentucky is such a lovely place. I’ve visited one side of it before — the Louisville side, the Mammoth caves, and the area before the river going to Cincinnati (sorry I forgot the name). I want to go to the Lexington area some day to see the horses. What a lovely state it is in the fall, especially, isn’t it?
Happy birthday to you too and I hope you enjoy your weekend with family!
Thank you for commenting!
:-)
Hello, Renate, fellow empty nester! That is such a wonderful thing that you can bless your grandchildren’s lives with your wisdom and life experience. I think that’s what Proverbs 31 was also saying: “her children rise up and call her blessed” — I think it can be extended to “her grandchildren also”!
I am so glad that God has provided for your grandchildren. It’s a blessing to be in the same town. By the time we moved back to my mother’s hometown, her dad had passed away. After that, growing up many hours away from the one set of living grandparents left, we saw them only once or twice a year, at most. It would take half a day to drive all the way to see them, so we could only go during school holidays.
Thank you for your comments! Wishing you a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day, Valerie! Indeed, it’s a blessing to have family nearby. Nice to get a lovely surprise at the door too.
My MIL lives a few towns over, and we are able to take an easy drive to see her very often. And if she needs any help, we are here. OTOH my mother is multiple time zones away, so if she needs help, she has to call on my brothers who are geographically closer to here. I do pray for God’s protection for her, as that’s pretty much the best thing to do, since I am so far away.
Thank you for commenting and have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!
Happy Mother’s Day, Merrillee! Yes, I agree re: video. Thank God for technology. USA is huge, and travel is a massive undertaking (IMHO) from coast to coast.
Thank you again for your comments and I hope you’re having a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend and have fun chatting with your kids on video!
Jan what you said about your father behind the camera was our story too. My dad had a stroke when I was 8 and that was the end of family photos (of which there was a huge pile of my brother but not so of me) He died when I was 11. If there is one thing I tell families is make sure you get a family photo of the whole family. We do not have one family photo with Mum, Dad, my brother and myself in it. I have a only 2 as a baby with dad and a few more with mum. My brother has a few families ones (hes over 4 years older) It is so important. Also don’t forget the younger children even if they are asleep put them in the photo. We have one of some of my cousins (and even the girl next door where we were visiting, she was like family) and Pop and other members and I was about 6 weeks old sleeping and not in it.
I remember mum cooking and she would save dough for me to eat. when we made cookies she always said she would get an extra tray if I didn’t help. She was very patient. She was also very quick to send a cake to welcome new neighbours or the new pastor (I was the one who normally took it) Also would always have cakes or other food in the freezer if someone was sick and needed some help. She was also a prayer warrior.
What I am very happy about is how she taught through example to save and to not spend what you don’t have. Also to rely on God when things seem tight. I remember many times we were down to our last piece of fire wood and I was trying to cut up old sleepers just to have a fire for another day or so and a load of wood would arrive. Another story is Mum felt she needed to help a new Christian who was paying back some debts, She gave him her last few $ before her next cheque in a few days and in the post that day was a cheque that covered the amount from and unexpected source. She taught That God does provide.
Happy Mother’s day. (I am a mama to two naughty cats this year)
Thank you, Ausjenny! Those are wonderful childhood memories. I hope you’ll consider publishing a memoir some day, if you haven’t already.
Yes, indeed re: get the whole family into the picture! Good idea about the sleeping babies too. I remember when my family went to the beach a lot, but we never took any photo of all of us together. As we got older, we got too busy to go together anymore, and then I went off to university, followed by my brothers. By the time we all returned home for a group photo, we were all adults!
Sometimes photos are all I have of my childhood. We didn’t have a video recorder back then (our family didn’t). Cameras used rolls of film that, if accidentally exposed to sunlight, would be literally ruined.
Anyway thank you very much for your comments! And happy mothering those cats! I have one cat — a stubborn one — and he’s such a handful. Sigh!
The photos of family when young is important as you don’t know what will happen. With dad having the stroke when I was 8 and dying when 11 it would have made it even more special.
I am not a writer. I would have trouble writing down the stories although I remember a lot of them.
I am the mother of two awesome, successful, independent adult sons! My husband and I did something right! Hallelujah! What I remember most were all the expectations that I “felt” were placed on me as a mother. Expectations from the boys’ daycare or school teachers. Expectations from my company as a working mother. Expectations from their school to be involved in the school activities and sports, and from the church to lead church activities. From my husband, expectations of what I should be doing. It was overwhelming!!
Looking back now, I think the majority of those expectations were those I guiltily placed on myself and “transferred” to others. I was my own worst critic when it came to my mothering skills. I always tried my best and I loved my kids immensely, I just always felt like I could be doing better. Now, I wish I’d enjoyed those days more and hadn’t placed so much pressure on myself. I suppose if I’m blessed with grandchildren someday, I’ll have a do-over!
Hope you enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day.