AWESOMEYvonne

As a parent, there are many feelings that hit extremely hard, even when you are prepared for them. I was not prepared though for the feeling of mourning, loss, and sadness when I see “mom friends” and their growing children on Facebook, Instagram, etc. that are no longer a part of my life.

Many of the people you hang out with when you have small/younger kids is based on their activities. If your kids dance, you know the dance moms, this is true of most activities, ie soccer, music lessons, etc. These kids are typically all invited to each other’s event/birthday parties and parents share kid friendly events with each other so you often run into the same people over and over again.

These young children grow up together and you and the other parents are along for the ride. Ultimately though, as the children age, they all try new things, find their likes and dislikes, stop activities and start new ones or take breaks. This is normal and expected in childhood.

What I was unprepared for was the hurt. I had come to know these people. Hell, I liked some of these people. What we acted like was “a chore to cart our kids around” became a social outing for us, a chance to enjoy the company of someone I liked and obviously had some similarities to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to see the posts on Social Media of all the things these amazing kids and parents are doing. I cheer for them all, cry for their disappointments, and smile so proudly when they accomplish things.

When I am around a child, part of them becomes “my” child. I become invested and it appears that is going to last for a long time. I have treated all of these kids as my own at some point. I fed them, took them someplace, or gave them a hug when it was needed.

Likewise, I have made jokes, shared stories of success and failure, and helped fellow parents as much as I could. I would text one a funny picture relevant to something that had happened that week.

If you and/or your child was a part of my life and my children’s and our paths don’t really seem to cross anymore, please know you all touched me, I love you and your kids, I wish you all the absolute best in the world, and I miss you.