Before I Was Your Mother

**Lest you think I’m some sort of bloggy-genius, this post was inspired by a book I read to my kids called “Before I Was Your Mother” by Kathryn Lasky.**

Before I was your mother, I was a big sister who made up dances all day long with her little sister. We called them our “Flamingo Dances”…Pink Flamingo, Red Flamingo…you get the idea…we were so creative like that. If we weren’t making up dances, we were swimming (and making up dances in the pool), playing Canasta or Hearts or watching Days of our Lives while eating chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches we stole from the deep freezer since there weren’t grown-ups around to tell us “No!”.

Before I was your mother, I was a chubby tomboy with a huge gap in her teeth, bad acne and an even worse haircut…yet I was as confident as they come until I reached adolescence. I had plenty of friends, my teachers liked me and I loved school. I played sports even though I wasn’t a superstar, I did well in school even though I wasn’t the smartest, I loved my friends even though I didn’t have a “best” friend.

Before I was your mother, I was a girl who adored her Mom. I would count down the hours until she got home from work and gave me a hug and asked about my day. We would sit down to dinner that I had made, or she had quickly heated up, and we three girls would chat about anything interesting or mundane that happened that day. We would maybe watch a little TV (although if you can believe it, there were only 3 choices back then), read books, maybe on a special night play a game and then head to bed.

Before I was your mother, I moved to a new school when I was a freshman in high school. I didn’t know a soul and had to make all new friends. I dated one of the “cutest guys in school” and had my heart completely broken. I made wonderful friends and really bad choices. I did things I’m ridiculously proud of and others that make me ashamed.

Before I was your mother, I danced with my sorority sisters at a bar to the Love Zombies until the early hours of the morning. I ate Subway at 2 a.m. and went to bed without brushing my teeth. I danced all the time. I taught aerobics. I had lots of jobs. I studied hard, I worked hard and I had some of the best times of my life.

Before I was your mother, I dreamed of falling in love and having a family. But I never thought it would happen for me. I went on a lot of first dates and not a lot of second dates. Then, when I was least expecting it, I met the most amazing man I had ever known and fell madly in love. Lucky for me, he asked me to marry him and I said yes.

Before I was your mother, I had Cabbage Patch dolls and dressed them and diapered them and dreamed of becoming a mother. We would have birthday parties complete with cake and candles and presents for our “babies”. I spent all of my allowance and Christmas/Birthday money on clothes for them. I dreamed of all of the memories I’d share with my own children some day, all the good times we’d have and all the love we would feel.

Before I was your mother, I had so many dreams. Lucky for me, they all came true with you.