Category: Motherhood

“Parenting teenagers is an exercise in letting go, while holding on with all your heart.” – Michelle Cruz-Rosado

Day 21.  Letting go with faith was definitely today’s theme. Thank you, God, that my son and his friend had an amazing day today, and thank you for keeping them safe as well. 

Two Things I Am Grateful For

  1. I am grateful that my son could add another new experience to his bucket list this year.  He had spoken about wanting to attend a Sharks rugby match over the last few months.  He called it out as a goal for next year.  He must have wanted it quite badly because God decided to move the timeline up.  I am also really happy that he was able to experience it with one of his best friends.  Of course, letting him attend without me took a bit of faith on my part.  A lot of alcohol flows at these events, so my only prayer was that they didn’t encounter any drunk people who were also looking for trouble.  Thankfully, God heard that prayer, too. 
  2. My son has been blessed with many firsts this year.  His firsts included a cruise, a trip overseas watching his favourite soccer team play at their home stadium, and even seeing amazing exhibits at the museum in London.  He saw some of the exhibits in his textbooks and was thrilled to see them in real life. He used to enjoy visiting the Pietermaritzburg Museum as a pre-schooler, so I was thrilled to know that he hadn’t lost his love of museums.  I am grateful to everyone, and especially God, for making all of my son’s new experiences possible this year.  He has really been blessed. 
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One Moment of Joy

Just having my son home again has been a real joy.  I have barely seen him today but it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that he is sleeping in his own bed tonight.  Tomorrow, he is off again, so once again, I have to loosen the reins and have faith that he will be ok and enjoy his time away.  When he was younger, I used to worry that he would enjoy his time away from me so much that he wouldn’t want to come back home.  How much more self-absorbed and insecure could I be!🫣 I know better now.  I know now that while he might not miss me when he goes away because he is enjoying the moment, he will always love me as much as he always has, and he will always be grateful to be home when he returns.  I guess I am also just preparing myself for the day he goes to university.  I only have two more years with him at home.  

Well, that’s it from me today.  Thanks for popping by.

Bye for now.

A Month of Gratitude 2024: Day 11

Hello there! I have to admit that today I am tired. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though, and thankfully, it is clearly not a train. Two more sleeps until Friday!!

Two Things I am Grateful For

  1. Around this time last I was so excited because I had been invited to lead a squad in the business. It was quite an honour and I was so nervous. Today I heard that my squad would be dissolved. I am really nothing unhappy about it. I am grateful. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead an amazing team and to learn from them. I am also grateful for the opportunity away. Leading two teams was no joke. It took it’s toll on me. I take my hat off to Senior managers and directors who have to lead more than one team. It is an interesting challenge.
  2. My son received his school report today. It was not a pretty sight, and I was disappointed to see his marks. However, he did pass, and for that, I am grateful. Two more years of high school to go, and then I will be the mother of a university student!
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One Source of Joy

I took my friend’s son off her hands for a short while at work today. School is out, and she didn’t have an au pair for him today, so she had to bring him to work. He is pretty shy, but he knows me, so we took a walk to the Zen Garden to watch the Koi swim and have a look around. Unfortunately, the monkeys were out in the garden, so we left sooner than I had hoped we would need to. They scare us. I had forgotten how much energy a four-year-old had. It was challenging keeping up with him…lol. It was great to spend time with him and to pay forward helping a fellow mum out in the office. I had so many people help me when my son was little, and I was forced to bring him into the office.

Thanks for popping by. I hope you enjoyed the read. Let me know what you are grateful for today in the comments.

Bye for now.

“Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.”

-Rocky Balboa

Bloganuary writing prompt
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
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Hello again. Being the mother of a teenage son, it’s impossible to get out of watching a sport. In my case, it’s soccer. My son has always loved soccer. I used to kick the ball around with him in the evenings when he was still a preschooler. We both used to love it. We would take turns playing goalkeeper, and it killed him that we were playing on tar because he couldn’t dive for the ball. We have a foam sleeper couch in the lounge, so he used to pull that out and practice his dives on there. Naturally, his first position on a soccer team at age 7 was as a goalkeeper. He now plays defensive or midfield positions.

Next was wrestling. WWE, to be exact. I didn’t mind, as I used to love watching wrestling with my dad as a kid. I also watched boxing with my dad back then. We would be up at 3 am or so to watch a Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvelous Marvin Hagler fight in Vegas. I loved spending that time with my dad. My son and his friend used to practice their wrestling moves on that sleeper coach. Thank goodness it was just foam. It really went through the works…lol.

Next up was F1. My son discovered Drive to Survive on Netflix, and the next thing you know, we were both hooked. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. Today, we are avid Mercedes fans. I am praying that the team pulls out an amazing car this year that enables Hamilton’s 8th (or shall we say 9th because he won “that” Abu Dhabi race…). I enjoy following the various strategies and my mind is blown at the level of precision required and all of the elements that need to be managed to win a race. This year my would like to attend a race. We will have to see what the bank account says. 😅. He is already being spoilt by his grandfather and will be watching a Liverpool match at Anfield with him, so maybe we should hold off on an F1 race for another year or two.

My favourite sports to watch are athletics, swimming and tennis. I guess it is because they are individual sports, and I am in awe of the grace with which these athletes perform. These sports also have easy rules to understand. I mean, I still don’t understand the offside rule in soccer😂. Tennis was one of my mother’s favourite sports to watch, and I always watched it with her. She loved Wimbledon. She also loved watching the Comrades. Every year, without fail, she watched the race from the start until the men’s and ladies’ winners came in. Then she would check who made the silver cut-off and then watch the last half hour of the race. She would scream for those people who were limping to the finish and may not make the cut-off. That half hour is the most amazing period in the race because everyone is behind those runners who are trying to beat the gun. It doesn’t matter if you are cheering from home or the stadium; what mattered was that you were “willing” those runners to the finish line with your energy. I cannot describe the feeling.

I have done long-distance running, played netball, and swam at school, but all before puberty hit. Thereafter I lost interest in sport. I did enjoy it at the time, though.

What sports do you watch or play and why?

Thanks for popping by! Be Blessed.