Guest Post: Jessica Lee Parsons

Today's guest post is from a good friend of mine, Jessica Lee Parsons. She has a cute blog where you can see some ideas of how to re-use some of your common household items. She's also a fabulous mom who encourages creativity in her children-- she actually wants to get out the paints and let them have at it! What I love about going to Jess's house is that it's bright-- lots of happy colors that make you feel playful and fun. I'd love to grow up in a house like that. Jess has inspired me as a mother in many ways-- helping me to challenge my braniac, to accept the natural limitations of a 5 year old, and to respond with a patient, calm voice in the midst of a crisis. She's awesome! The other thing you should know about Jessica is that she is an author-- one day her books will be on the store shelves where they belong. Thanks for writing for us today!

Finding Food Under the Couch and Other Discoveries of Motherhood

by Jessica Lee Parsons

At some point my mom became less of a parent and more of a best friend. It happened somewhere between that first ultrasound of a human jelly bean and breaking up a three kid brawl in the living room. I realized I owed my mother an apology. For exactly what, I couldn't immediately recall, but I knew that years ago it was me that was wearing her down to paper-thin patience and making her worry, fume, and boil. I even felt the need to ask her forgiveness for the good times, because I had no idea that the joy of falling in love with your own children could be so intense it actually hurt. I made her heart ache in good ways and bad and I never understood it.
I still don't. I've yet to experience the fear of handing keys to an individual I once had to toilet-train and watching him drive away. I haven't even experienced a day when all of my children board the school bus and I'm left to dance around in my quiet, clean house like a whirling dervish, chanting "Woohoo!" Or maybe I'll just burst into tears because I miss them all more than I thought I would.
I've nibbled just the edges of the parenthood pie, I've yet to taste a full slice of Motherhood, and already I've been changed profoundly. Being "Mom" has exposed faults I never knew I had.
For example, I thought I was so patient until I caught my kids making "snow" with the bean bag filling. I thought I was logical until I banishd the kids to the backyard and could only come up with "because" for a reason. I thought I was a cute pregnant lady until I hit the third trimester and my ankle bones disappeared under swollen, purple sausage legs and I got the worst bout of acne I'd had since ninth grade. I thought I was humble until I caught myself boasting inwardly about my amazing parenting skills, right before my child threw a prolific tantrum in the grocery store. And I thought I would be a perfect parent until I found out I couldn't.
One by one I discovered my strengths weren't all that strong. But that's the funny thing about parenting; I didn't know how strong I was until I gave birth. I didn't know how funny I was until I made my daughter laugh so hard she snorted. I didn't know how smart I was until I figured out a way to get a three year old boy to eat veggie soup. I didn't know how comforting I was until I kissed it better and I didn't know how much my mom meant to me until I became "Mom" myself.

So, when I wonder what that smell is, coming from under the couch, and I find a sippy-cup of rotten milk or that sandwich The Boy said he threw in the garbage, I am so glad my mom discovered how forgiving she was, so that even after all I did, we can still be the best of friends.