Girls. Sisters. Friends.

Girls.  Sisters. Friends.

Daughters of mine – these three keep life from ever being dull or boring.

They keep me from becoming too self-centered and complacent.  They frustrate the living daylights out of me sometimes (on a daily basis) they make me lose my temper (only occasionally) they make me want to climb the walls and pull my hair out.

And I wouldn’t want to live without them.  Because they also bring lots of giggles and laughter, cuddles and snuggles, joy and fun.

All I ever wanted to do when I grew up was get married to a wonderful man and have babies.  And God granted my wish and blessed me above and beyond anything I ever dreamed of – in the form of my amazing husband and these 3 absolutely wonderful girls!

My 9 year old baby – who isn’t a baby at all but she lets me call her ‘my baby’.  Her cheeks are still the most kissable ever.  

Her long, blond hair – I never thought I’d have a blond.  My hubby’s hair is almost black and mine is dark – no blonds in my family.  But we got this beautiful blond and we love it!  She likes her blond hair 🙂

I took these photos of my ‘baby’ and also the one of my teenager.  The photos of my middle girl and the photos of all three of them were taken by my photographer friend Belle Hess.  She does an amazing job and my teenager is insistent that next time Belle take her pics instead of me – word of warning if your kids aren’t to the teen years yet – they don’t think Mom can do things as well as someone else 😀

This girl.  Seriously.  She makes me laugh.  She makes me cry.  I think this one has brought me to tears and wall-climbing the most.  And you know what?  I think it’s because she is the most like me.  (I’m pretty sure my Mom got more frustrated with me than either my sister or my brother)  This girl is intense.  When she is happy all is well and good.  When she isn’t happy? We all suffer!

If you are a Mom you know that all of the angst and anguish caused by kids just melts completely away when they give you that sweet smile and say ‘I love you’.  Or when they are sleeping 😀  So sweet and cherub-like when sleeping.  You forget the messes, attitudes, disobedience, and all else when you stop to stare at the slumbering faces of your children.

This girl and her little sister are trekking west today with their Grandparents.  900 miles west to where my sister and her family and my brother live.

That fact is what prompted this post this morning.

When Mom asked me if they would want to go I said ‘yes’ right away.  For one, I knew my girls wanted to go – they’d only talked about it all the time and hinted outright asked Grandma to go along!  And 2 weeks of quiet sounded good to me 😀  Really, what mama wouldn’t rejoice at the thought of 2 whole weeks of quiet – and a break from homeschooling.  2 whole weeks to design and create and fill orders without being interrupted by girls wanting food, clean clothes, love and attention?

But you know what?  A funny thing happens.

When the house is ringing with the noise of children, the thought of quiet and no interruptions sounds so nice.

But the minute those children are gone there descends this unique aura of ‘too quiet’.

What is it about knowing they are gone and won’t be back for 2 weeks that makes me miss them so much?  If they are gone for a day or two I don’t really think about missing them that much.  And today is like, the first day they’ve been gone so really I shouldn’t be missing them yet, right?

Funny things we are – Mothers.  Crave some quiet but the minute we get an extended period of it and we miss the chaos.  Guess that’s how God created us!

 In the not-so-distant future I will have 2 teenagers.  This girl will turn 12 this year and soon leave her tweens behind.  I don’t mind moving on past those pre-teen years.  I much prefer the teen years.

My teenager is home with me – which helps the too-quiet house some.  But she’s a teen – she can spend all day in her room and be quite happy about it.  She emerges when she is hungry demanding some food.  She also emerges grudgingly when I insist that she fold laundry, help in the kitchen or just so she gets a change of scenery.  Such is life with a teenager – I rather love these teen years 😀

These three.  Girls.  Sisters.  Friends.  They laugh together, play together, fight with each other.  I love that they will always have each other.  The friends we make in life can come and go and change, but family is family forever.  I love that they are creating close relationships with each other (despite the times they don’t get along) and that no matter where they go in life and no matter how many miles separate them they will always have the connection of family.  My sister is my best friend – despite the 900 miles separating us physically, and the different paths our lives take, we are still connected with bonds that time doesn’t break.  We have history together, we understand each other, we connect like only sisters can.  And my girls are going to have that too.

I love to hear these 3 when they are all of one mind and are getting along and enjoying doing something together.  Right now the age differences don’t always mesh beautifully.  But they are sisters.  They love each other.  And one day the age differences won’t matter at all anymore.  They will shop together, talk on the phone to each other (8 years later that must be amended to ‘text’ each other), discuss ideas together, plan together and be the best of friends.  I know because I’m their Mom.  And I see the relationships of friendship developing right before my eyes.

I am so thankful God blessed me with girls and that He blessed my girls with sisters.

Jill

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