Here is the moment you’ve been waiting for—your last child has moved out of the house and is now “on his own.” You can finally enjoy some “peace and quiet,” you tell yourself, some “me” time for yourself and “we” time with your spouse. Life after Mom-hood has begun!
Well, if you’re anything like me, the mother of three grown children, or like many other women out there who have raised their children and watched them leave home to start lives and families of their own, you may find that life after raising children has some definite challenges.
First of all, there is the matter of you. Who are you, after all? Many moms tend to identify themselves as moms, of course. Twenty-four hours a day, that’s what you’ve been doing for the past couple of decades. As a supporter of women and mothers, I know how important it is to take on this identity as a mother and I applaud any woman who does this. However, it is also important to have your own identity apart from motherhood.
This ties into the second challenge. Now what? Studies show how important it is to have goals and show a direct link between writing your goals down and achieving success. This one is up to you. What would you like to do now? Come up with one or more goals, and you will have something to serve as a foundation for your hard work and dedication in this new life after mom-hood. You know you are strong and capable—you successfully raised a child, after all!
Life after mom-hood is something you’ve been looking forward to for some time now, after all. You deserve to make it as rewarding as it was raising your children!
Tina Turbin
