Is There Something You're Not Telling Me?

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Ok, you know that feeling you get when you meet a first-time mother-to-be?  And she is teeming with excitement and anxiety about "her body and how it will never be the same" and "what if labor hurts".  And you say nice things about how it will all be fine because that's what we veteran mothers do: we lie like DOGS to these poor women, because who wants to hear the truth in that vulnerable state?

No one.

We veteran moms want to grab those pregnant mothers by the shoulders and say LABOR IS NOTHING, wait until you haven't slept more than 90 consecutive minutes IN WEEKS and talk to me about pain.  Wait until the baby coughs like a seal and his little lips turn blue and you rush to the hospital praying like mad the whole way... that, girlfriend, is anxiety.

Well, I've been wondering if mothers of grown children are keeping a dirty secret from ME.  Because lately, I feel like my children are just so cute and funny and adorable - Paige with her pigtails and sparkly pink toenails that are so tiny they look like specks of dust, and William with his constant questions about the universe coupled with a smattering of freckles across his nose the sight of which makes my eyes mist over.  I wonder if those mothers of grown children are looking at me when I cross the parking lot holding both of their wee little hands and thinking "enjoy it woman, because this is as good as it gets". 

I worry that's what they're thinking.   "Wait until they're teenagers", they mutter under their breath. "Wait until that little pigtailed girl says she hates you".  I worry that they're not telling me because I don't need to know - that it would ruin this for me - they think I shouldn't know, because what good does it do to know this is all so fleeting? And that it's going to get worse from here. 

Kind of like we veterans never, ever tell new moms about The First Three Months.  Because it's too late for them now.  They'll know soon enough.  No need to worry them.  It is what it is.

Are you worried about what lies ahead?  About parenting adolescents?  Because I'm terrified.  Truly.