When I was five, I told the ladies at church that Mama gave me cat food as a snack (it was really Cracklin’ Oat Bran™), brought a horse into her house ten years later, and a few years after that would ride the same horse across the pasture, no saddle or bridle. It’s no wonder why by the time I left home, Mama’s once perfect face was contorted into an expression of permanent alarm, and her jet-black hair was painted with gray streaks. She’d get her revenge by regaling my boyfriends with stories of my adventures.
“Wait and see,” she’d say as I laughed. “Parenting isn’t as simple as it seems. You’re gonna get back what you dish out.”
I never understood what she meant, or thought for one moment it might be a parents’ curse until I had children of my own. Both put me through the parental wringer. As infants, both Jonathan and Joseph waited until we were in public to loudly pass gas. No one ever believed the baby did it.
Being a parent has been an educational experience. Thanks to my boys, I’ve learned that cell
phones don’t float in water, and a family Dalmatian can be the victim of dot-to-dot sessions, performed with a marker. There have been portraits on crumpled paper, created with my best makeup. And I’ve had to rescue my underwear off the family dog on more than one occasion, sometimes in front of company. But because of my precious boys, I’ve learned to enjoy the more simple things in life—the feel of a loved one’s embrace and the beat of their heart as you hold them close, sunsets, and of course, the smell of fresh-brewed coffee.
I’m thrilled to share my parenting journey with you, my friends. It’s my wish that by reading this, you realize there is always laughter, sometimes mixed with tears, and the human spirit can persevere, no matter how great the odds. Always remember, La vita e bella (Life is beautiful).
Check out the awesome review of my book at Lisa's Writopia!