My husband will be 60 next year and I will be 49. Being parents of three children so many years apart from each other we have heard just about every comment there is. When a couple of girls in their late teens came to our house to buy one of our cars a few years ago they were admiring a picture of the two younger "kids" we had in the hallway. One of the girls remarked, "are those your grandchildren?" I started giggling until I realized that would make me "grandma!!!" I am certainly old enough to be my son's grandmother, but not to be my daughter's grandma. When my husband went about a month or so to an eye doctor appointment, one of the technicians asked my husband if he was "retired." He told her, "no, I have a seven year old." He came home and said that had took the wind right out of his sails. My husband exercises every day, does yoga and eats very healthy. Some of my friends have already retired from the workforce and my husband has friends who already have grandchildren. Having a child in elementary school, one in high school and one that is an adult has been quite interesting to say the least. In the same conversation at our house, we could be talking about Spongebob Squarepants, colleges my daughter is thinking about, and how my stepson's job is going!! My husband likes to tell people that he had a child every decade. There are 11 years separating my husband and I. It never has been an issue except when it comes to our musical tastes. I like groups from the 80's and 90's, my hubby likes the music of the 60's and 70's. We have a few groups in common, we have been to see the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, to name a few. My little man and I love Kid Rock. My daughter likes groups I've never heard of. My stepson is pleasantly surprised when he mentions a group and I've heard of it. There are about 21 years separating him and I. My husband just yesterday was telling me that someone asked him how old he was and he asked the guy, "why, how old do you think I am?" The guy told him 39! That made his day considering he is 20 years older than that. My husband's hair color has changed from when I first met him. He used to have dark hair and it has gradually changed to a nice shade of silver. Our 7-year old calls him "daddy, silver fox." To me, age is definitely just a number. Our children are what will continue to keep my husband and I young!!
When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...
This is inspiring, thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're so very welcome!
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