loopyloulaura

This week is strange to say the least. I am feeling somewhat lost as my mum duties have been seriously reduced.

Matthew has disappeared off on a residential trip with the school. My little boy, suddenly grown up, not so little.

This is what the future holds.

There will be days when he is getting on with his life and I will have no contact, no idea at all what he is doing.

And it isn’t just my great big 8 year old.

Anya is occupying herself more and more, spending hours writing or playing. She is flourishing at infant school and I can’t believe that her first year is almost complete.

Zach, my baby, has suddenly settled into preschool and I leave him without a single tear being shed.

These beautiful pics were part of our engagement shoot. Snapshots of the family we are, the people we are. Offering no insight into the future, the tears and fears that will inevitably be part of their lives which I will be unable to soothe.

This is how it is supposed to be. Growing up is hard but so is letting go. Giving them wings and letting them fly away, hoping they remember to come back every now and then!

To quote my mum: ‘I will have failed as a mother if you never live your own life’. Children need to learn that mistakes are an essential element of life but success is the ability to learn and move on. Success as a parent is having resilient children who make the future their own, find their own path and have confidence in their choices.

I hope I have done a good enough job, given them the tools to face life with a smile.

I am sad that the babies they were are vanishing day by day but I am so incredibly proud of the amazing human beings they are and will be.

My nest is not empty but one day it will be. However, my heart will remain full and I will always be there for them whether they want me there or not!