Dear kids,
Whether you are a tween, a teen, or even a young adult, I want you to understand a few things about your mom. I know she worries about you all the time, and you don’t really get why. I’m sure that all her questions about every.single.thing. in your life can be exhausting and sometimes even irritating, no matter how old you are.
You might think that she doesn’t believe you are capable of doing things successfully, or she doesn’t trust you will make good decisions on your own. All her worrying can really confuse you and make you doubt that she believes in you, too. Other times, you might be completely surprised at how she cries over all your accomplishments or squeals with delight over things you think aren’t worth celebrating. I know it feels a bit overwhelming when your momfreaks out all the timeand seems so concerned about everything you’re going through and all that you’re doing.
But there are reasons why she’s always worrying, and so invested in making sure you are okay. There are valid explanations as to why she gets so excited about your endeavors and achievements and can be anxious about your challenges and setbacks, too.
Behind all the tears and cheers and fretting and questioning about how you are doing and feeling is a mama who is constantly concerned for your well-being.All our worrying isn’t always abouteveryworst-case scenario that we truthfully can, at times, imagine. How we worry about you may look different, depending onour personalitiesand our various life circ*mstances. ButI think it’s safe to say that every mom on the planet won’t stop worrying about her beloved babies until her dying day.
Ever since you were born, we moms were given a mission like no other in all the world. When we first held your tiny, fragile body in our arms, we knew our lives would be forever changed. And as you grew through each age and developed through every stage, we diligently kept our sacred duty to ensure you were safe, loved, healthy, and well. In all the details of every day, we poured all our energy and devotion into caring for you as best we could with what we knew and all we had to give.
And when you suffered in any way, we would doeverythingin our power to help you heal and be whole because there’s nothing that wrecks a mama’s heart more than to see our babies hurting. You’ll never understand the depths of our love that has endured all the hardships and heartache we’ve watched you go through and how we celebrate with utter joy over all the incredible triumphs in your life too.
This calling we have is our greatest privilege and our top priority, and it will continue to be for the rest of our lives. We are all crazy in love with our children and would do anything for them. Being a mother is our most profound purpose, and we’ve been given the most glorious position in all of humanity. Mothers hold the immense honor of our calling and want more than anything to uphold our mission and nothing will ever change that.
We are constantly amazed at the power of our love and the magnitude of our job, and the enormity of it all as we watch you grow up. We are seldom at rest in our minds and our hearts because we are trying our best to be good moms, and we often wonder if we are getting it right or doing enough.
No matter how successful you are or how great things are going for you in your life, we will always be concerned about your health and well-being and want more than anything to keep you from harm. That’s just what moms do. We hold a deep and relentless responsibility for our kids, who live in the core of who we are.
And as you get older and grow into an adult, we’ll keep worrying about you while you’re building your own life away from us. With each new day and at every age, there are always new things to worry about because life can be hard and unpredictable, and we will always worry about how it’s affecting our children. Each kid is so different and unique, so our worries will shift accordingly. But we generally often worry about similar things, whatever the circ*mstances our kids are in because we are desperately wanting our kids to stay safe and be well, no matter where they are and what they’re doing.
And oftentimes, our worrying can turn into celebrating when things are going well in your life, and my gosh, we thank God for that in the deepest parts of our hearts. We will cry tears of relief when you’ve made it through a difficult situation, and we’ll cry tears of joy when you’ve triumphed in victory over something challenging. We’ll be brimming with pride overeverysinglethingyou achieve in your life because we know your entire story and each pivotal scene leading up to that very moment of your accomplishment. We remember all the details of your history as we continue to watch you grow into the person you were meant to be, and as it unfolds before our eyes, it is absolutely thrilling for us to see.
There’s also no one who will dive into the pit to save her child from danger like a mother will do.The phrase “mama bear” has been created for a reason. Every mom will doanythingto protect their kid with the supernatural strength that rises up within her.And we know those pits are everywhere, no matter how strong and secure and successful you are. We’ve lived long enough to see tragedy and trauma hit people in our lives, and we’ve fallen into those painful pits, too. So we will always stand guard with anxious hearts, hoping and praying for your protection in a world that is full of so much uncertainty. It’s not that we think you will fail or fall, no, no, no child, it’s not that at ALL. It’s a constant fear we can never change of our babies getting hurt in any way. We try to control all our worrying as best we can, knowing there are so many things that are out of our hands.
We get that it can bother you and make you feel like you do. We hear you tell us things like, “Stop worrying about me, Mom. I’ll be fine!” or “Mom, you worry about me way too much. It’s annoying.” And your feelings are absolutely valid, and we really do get what you’re saying. We certainly don’t want to upset you with all our worrying! But it’s important that you try to see it from our perspective as much as you possibly can. The truth is, you’ll never fully comprehend why we are the way we are unless or until you have your very own children to worry about, too.
Hopefully, you also see that we really do have our own hopes and dreams that don’t include you. We have other people in our lives whom we love and other passions that we pursue. We promise our lives aren’tonlycentered on you. It’s just that you will always and forever be at the forefront of our minds and take up the most space in our hearts. That will never change, no matter what we are doing and how old you are.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way because you are our greatest accomplishment and the most treasured gift we’ve been given, and we won’t stop cherishing every piece and part of living with it. Moms will always have a deep sense of responsibility to care for the children God has entrusted us. So, with all that said, no matter how great you’re doing or how many times you tell us we don’t have to worry because we are moms, that’s what we’ll be doing.
