Happy Thoughts.

I have a friend who has two children. When she was pregnant with her second, which was totally unexpected, she was terrified that she wouldn't have enough love in her heart for the new baby. She loved her first one so much that she couldn't possibly imagine having any love leftover for another child. I told her that she would be completely amazed at how her heart would expand and that there would be more than enough love to go around. That the heart doesn't have a finite capacity for love, it has an infinite amount of room. (Of course, the heart is just a muscle that doesn't actually feel any kind of emotion at all, but you know what I mean.)

Anyhow, of course when the new babe was born, she was totally besotted and instantly in love. 

And now she worries about when it's time to "let go" and how do you hand your children over to someone else? To have some other person be the Number One in your child's life? I mean when you give your entire self to being Number One to your kids... how do you just give that up? When every moment of your life is spent marveling at the love you have for your children, and seeing the love that is reciprocated, it's a pretty awesome thing.  That little seed of jealousy at giving that love to someone else is planted really, really early. 

However, I am here to tell her (and you!) that it's just like having a new baby...when your son (I can't speak for daughters, since I don't have one....it might be different with girls), when your son finds the woman who is right for him, his true love, the one who makes him smile and makes it worth while to get up each day....you are filled with nothing but joy. Honestly! True story!

I feel sad for women who don't get along with their in-laws, be it daughter-in-law or mother-in-law or even sister-in-law. Holy cow, life is far too fragile to have family animosity. And it can be cut short so quickly that there is often no time to make amends. 

I am incredibly fortunate to have the daughter-in-law that I have. And so fortunate that her mom and dad raised her the way they did. Be happy for your kids....if they're happy, be happy for them. It's simple, really.