It’s Ok to Still Need Your Parents After You Become One

Meet Wendy

I was born and raised a true Louisiana Cajun girl, in the formerly small (now big) town of Houma, Louisiana! I grew up in a house where fried fish was a weekly staple, my dad was either fishing or hunting more times than not, and my mom’s Cajun cooking was second to none. After graduating from high school, I attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond and fell in love with the Northshore. Family Picture

While at Southeastern, I earned my bachelor and master’s degrees and then decided that I wasn’t ready to leave the college world yet! I began my first job at Southeastern as a Career Counselor two days after my graduation ceremony! Fast forward 14 years and I’m still not ready to leave. Currently, I work in the Admissions Office helping students get admitted and feel welcomed to my alma mater.

My husband and I met while we were both students at Southeastern and now live in Covington, where we raise our two beautiful girls! My husband is my rock and my best friend through the roller coaster of life. He keeps me grounded when the ride seems to pass me by!

As a working mom with a tween and a preschooler, I feel constantly blessed to see the world through their eyes. They remind me to play, to have fun, and that a hug to “squeeze the stuffings out” can fix just about anything!

I am so excited to have been given the opportunity to join the outstanding women at the New Orleans Moms Blog. I believe that as mothers, our experiences and the experience of others are what teach us the most. What better way to share them than through this blog. No matter where we came from, how we got here, or what our plan is for the future, we all have one thing in common – we are mothers! Our number one priority is to be the best mom we can to the best gifts we have been given – our children!

I still need my Mom and Dad

IMG_33151It’s 3PM on Sunday, and I hear the doorbell ring. Emily and Allie run to the front door to give Maw Maw and Paw Paw the biggest hugs possible! Little do they know that this Mommy is just as excited as they are!

Every summer, my parents pick a week to spend at my house with the kids. They color, play games, go to the park and the movies, and simply enjoy being together. In fact, Emily is about to officially take over the title of Family Monopoly Champion from my mom, and my dad has found more money in Allie’s ears than she has in her piggy bank. They do all those things that grandparents do with their grandkids.

But they always do something more than just that – they take care of me!

As my parents come in, my dad hauls in a huge ice chest and plants it on the kitchen floor. My mom begins to go through the list of meals for the week. “Monday will be stuffed bell peppers with mashed potatoes and green beans. Tuesday, I thought I would make a roast with rice and gravy. Wednesday will be Emily and Allie’s favorite – gumbo!” As she continues, I hear my husband Robert give a sigh of relief. This means, no cooking all week! He is the cook of the house, and I readily admit that I wouldn’t even eat anything I cook!

As we finish picking up of all the groceries they brought in, she continues, “what can I do for you while I’m here?” I, of course, answer “Nothing, but play with your grandchildren.” She gives me that look that I’ve seen on her face so many times. You know that look. It’s the one that silently says, “I know better!” She hesitates, but in her own special way, decides not to push it. In reality, she is really thinking, “I’ll just take care of things while she’s at work.”

Fast forward to the last day of their visit and this is what I am left with:

There is not a single piece of dirty laundry in my house. The oil in my car has been changed. The brake tag on Robert’s truck has been updated. I have enough leftovers in the freezer for the entire next week. My kitchen looks like it came out of the World’s Cleanest Kitchens magazine. Every toy in Emily and Allie’s room has a designated spot and yes, you can actually see the carpet again.

All that and yet, my mom still drank coffee with me every morning while we gossiped about the latest hot topics. My dad still asked about my day at work each night as we ate dinner. My mom still sat next to me to watch TV and cuddle, even making jokes that she needed to rock me. And both of them still had the best time with their grandchildren; the real reason they were there.

IMG_0057Do you ever feel like you really just want to be a kid again?

For that one week while my parents were visiting I got to do just that. I got to feel those same kid-like emotions that we forget exist. I got to feel the love of my mom’s hugs and the security of my dad’s protection all around me. I got to be worry free. I got to be the kid again.

As moms, we often find ourselves trying to be superwoman much like we saw our own mothers. How many times do we really hear that it’s okay to let someone else take of US, especially that someone else being our own parents?

So, although my parents are 74 and 78 and I should be taking on the role of caretaker for them, yes, they do still take care of me. But you know what? I’ve come to realize that that’s ok. Actually it’s more than ok. Because after many years of fighting it, I’ve realized that taking care of me and still being my parents is one of the things that keeps them as happy and healthy as they are! It’s also one of the things that keep me the happy and healthy mother that I am.

I recently heard someone say, “I feel like I missed my childhood, so I’m waiting for my second childhood!” Don’t wait anymore! Find that someone to take care of you for one day, one week, or even one hour and then go be that kid again!

Yes, I am a 38 year old, married mother of two, and I’m proud to say that my parents do still take care of me and I cherish every moment of it!

Do you ever want to feel like the kid again? Do you ever let your own parents take care of you? Do you ever turn over the control to someone else?

7 COMMENTS

  1. Wendy, I love your post. Your Mom and Dad richly deserve your beautiful tribute to them. They continue to nurture in ways that make them truly special. You are so very blessed.

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