A Mom’s View

It has been a great summer. We have gone from extremely busy to extremely bored in a matter of days.  We have camped, swam, hiked and biked.  Hubby, Meg and Mita have golfed it up and we all had a great time at King’s Island, playing license plate bingo (still need North Dakota and Hawaii), and at Ethiopian Culture Camp.  I have taken countless pictures of the summer and I made a Photo Book with a few of them.  Of course after I ordered the book I realized that I left out all pictures from King’s Island.  I hate it when I do that.  You can see the book here at my Shutterfly Site.

In looking at the pictures I have noticed something.  I am always in the back.  Most of the pictures are of my kids from behind.  It made me think of my role as a mom.  Always in the back, coaching them on, nagging at behavior, watching their successes and watching them fall off  bikes.  Here are a few of the pictures I am talking about:

When we were up at Geneva on the Lake and I was at the end of the bike line I started thinking about how symbolic it was for our family.  Obviously, I’m not the biker Hubby is and I don’t like to lead, so the end of the line is my comfort zone. But  it also lets me see my entire family. I don’t have to worry about where they are or what they are doing because I see everything.  Hubby leads the way and encourages them to go faster, protects them at crossings and is the adventure leader of the family.  I get to stop and walk with them when they are tired or fall.  I can yell out encouragements and  accolades (a few nags as well) when they need them.

One day I want to do an album of my kids growing up with all the pictures from behind.  A mom’s view of her family growing up, learning and starting their lives.

We all like to be in the front every once in a while, but my few years bringing up the back will fly by and I plan on enjoying every minute of it!