WQ - We're All Growing Up

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This is my fourth round of the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write, and I'm amassing a growing collection of quotes! I'm  publishing late Tuesday instead of Wednesday, because Wednesdays are usually busy here on A Fresh Cup, so I share these collections on a day other than Wednesday most weeks.

When I set out to find some quotes for this week's WQ prompt (which is "Growing"), I expected to pull together a little collection, add some photos and be done. But as it turned out, the quotes that caught my eye tended towards a slightly different theme, so I just ran with that. As a result, I'll be sharing quotes from artists and authors and experts, along with quotes from ME, taken from a couple of previous articles I wrote. All on the theme of the experience of a parent as children grow up.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e. e. cummings

When we moms have young children, we often wear the Mama Bear title very proudly. Most of the time, that's a good thing. Mothers will protect and defend their babies fiercely and against the odds, and that seems to be an instinct God has put into us, and into many animals. Our young children are vulnerable and need our protection. But as kids grow older, it's also wise for us moms to gradually back off, and resist the temptation to hover or to attack anything that might cause our little darling discomfort.

Let Cubs Grow Up . . . They must be allowed to grow and mature and take responsibility for themselves. And Mama, you need to gradually and gracefully let them go. This is perhaps the hardest work a mother has to do, but it's essential if a child is to become a fully functional adult, and parents that cheer and encourage will make that process much smoother than parents that cling and control. 

Let your inner Mama Bear change and grow as your child does. ~Me, in Changing the Mama Bear Mindset (Homeschool Coffee Break)

Don't go through life, grow through life. ~Eric Butterworth

Earlier this year, I wrote about growing through the changes in family life. It seems like there's some pattern of seasonal development as children move from infancy through the growing up years until eventually they leave home as adults. 

A five-year-old learns to read; a middle schooler falls in love with a sport or hobby that brings out their best; a high schooler makes decisions about a college or career path that is the perfect fit. And a young adult makes a choice of mate and sets out on their own. Times of great growth for them and for me as a parent. I'm not much of a gardener, but it's not unlike the pleasure of seeing the trees bud and the tulips come up and the roses bloom. I may have tended the garden, but the growth is not really my doing. . . But the next stages often held some bittersweet. Once my little ones could read on their own, that meant a little less time spent on my lap requesting stories. When that young teen was delighting in music lessons or playing on a sports team or creating art, nurturing the interest and talent meant my time and money was being stretched. When the older teen started pursuing their goals and dreams, that also cost time and money, and inevitably would take them off on their own. Rather like the bold colors and crisp air of autumn. Exhilarating and beautiful, but a reminder that the season will soon change, and those leaves will drop. It's a time to do a bit of cleaning, prepare and protect for the next season. ~Me, in Seasonal Changes (A Fresh Cup of Coffee)

You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they're going. ~P.J. O'Rourke

Most people don't grow up. It's too damn difficult. What happens is most people get older. That's the truth of it. They honor their credit cards, they find parking spaces, they marry, they may have the nerve to have children, but they don't grow up. ~Maya Angelou

And now, here we are, with our children all grown up ― or almost grown up! And in this empty nest stage, I guess we just enjoy the fact that they're grown and hope we did a good enough job helping them arrive at adulthood. And it turns out the relationship dynamic grows into more of a friendship than simply parent and child.

What joy and pride my husband and I feel as we see our babies all grown up and thriving! But at the same time . . . they are our babies, after all, no matter how tall they are. As a mom, I miss them when they move away, even though I'm glad it's not my job to make them dinner every night. . . There's part of me that can't envision a world in which I don't see [them] every day, even while I dream about all the wonderful things in [their] future. . . Parenting adult children is a different skill set from parenting teens or young children or babies. That's obvious, but we moms need to remind ourselves of it. My adult children do not need me to help them with much of anything. . . I need to stick to encouraging and supportive, and just be available when they want to talk. Something amazing happens―the relationship dynamic changes, shifting even more towards friendship. What a sweet reward. ~Me, in Empty Nesting (Homeschool Coffee Break)

Raising a daughter is like growing a flower. You give it your best. If you've done your job well, she blooms. And after that, she leaves. ~Unknown

As they get older, our daughters become more and more like us too. ~Amy Newmark

(Yes, well, I hope only like me in whatever good things there might be in me!)

The years will rush by, and one day you will be watching your son as a man and feeling incredibly proud that he is caring, safe, making a contribution, and hopefully going far beyond you in the scope of his life. ~Steve Biddulph

And now that I'm finally grown up ― I'm a grandmother (my title in Nonny, in case you're curious) and even qualify for senior discounts in some places, after all! ― I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up. Other than the creaky joints, I don't really feel like I'm growing old most of the time. I'd like to think it's possible to hold on to the wonder and humour of childhood, and the hope and optimism and drive of a younger person, even while the years are ticking by. 

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. ~George Bernard Shaw

The trick is growing up without growing old. ~Casey Stengel

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public. ~Bryan White

Wednesday Quotes is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This post will be linked at #WQ #18: Growing

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