Mother's Day Thoughts: Moms, Teachers, and a New Generation

Mother’s Day thoughts for 2023: you know you’re busy being a mom when Mother’s Day sneaks up on you! With all that’s going on in our family, I am seriously living day to day without looking very far ahead. So I haven’t done a whole lot of planning. All I know is that there’s going to be great food this weekend. Click below for my favorite Mother’s Day brunch recipes.

Mother's Day brunch montage linking to recipes roundup

This week was a wonderfully packed week heading into Mother’s Day. The girls and I went to Atlanta to help my future daughter-in-law Abbi pick out a wedding dress and the girls to pick out bridesmaid dresses. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was picking out my own wedding dress!

Stacy Lyn in wedding dress with her mom — My mom and me on my wedding day

As we spent the day with Abbi’s mom and cousin, it got me to thinking about all the influences that affect our lives and mothering. Abbi’s mom is a teacher and has obviously influenced countless lives, probably sometimes without even knowing the impact she has on her students. So my Mother’s Day thoughts turn to the teachers in my life, too.

Stacy Lyn with girls at restaurant table

I spent the day yesterday with two of my favorite teachers from high school, my English teacher and geometry teacher. One of the teachers shared with me that since she didn’t have any children of her own, she especially loved her students. I can tell that now and could tell that when she was teaching. Her love for us affected our lives deeply, even into motherhood. In fact, her style of educating was one that I adapted to my own as I began homeschooling my kids.

Now my oldest and his wife are expecting in early September. Can you believe it? That little boy holding my fifth baby in the photo below is about to be a dad!

Forrest holding baby with other children when they were small

We found out at the reveal party that their baby is a girl. (Click for the video!) As I enter grandparenthood here soon, I’m contemplating the influence I will have on this amazing little girl. It’s a much larger responsibility than I’ve ever thought.

If you’ve been here long at all, you know my Granny Gray’s influence on my life. It was not just in her cooking, which is all through this blog, but in the fact that she loved me — rather, adored me — in a way no one else on earth could or did. It’s really impossible to explain, but if you had a grandparent like that, I’m sure that you understand. I long to be that kind of “Big Mama” for my grands.

Yes, I’ll be a “Big Mama,” but I’ll also still be a mother. Motherhood doesn’t end when your kids grow up, either. I am learning that more than ever before.

Young moms, you will grow in wisdom. You will benefit from good advice and from making your own decisions. Believe it or not, one day you will be the wise mom advising your adult kids.

Motherhood Is for Always – But You’ve Got This!