Photo 101 Day 20: Triumph

Growing up, I did not learn how to be a good mom. I did not learn how to be loving, kind or patient. I saw anger, abuse, and bitterness. I learned not to follow house rules, but to try not to make mom mad, especially if she’d been drinking.

When I had my first child, I knew little about being a parent. I made many mistakes over the years. I tried to learn and do better. I know I was a better mom than my mom was, but I was far from perfect.

Here is my Triumph photo. It shows the feet of our newest grandchild. Lucy has three older brothers. They are all wonderful.

My Triumph is this:

My daughter is an amazing mom! She is kind, patient, and loving. She cares for her children with wisdom. They know they are loved, and they know the rules like “don’t go near the street” or “don’t hit your brother with sticks”. They know there will be consequences when they break the rules. They also know the consequences will be dealt out with love and compassion.

When I look at the men and women my other children have become, I know that they, too, will be great parents if they have children of their own. Until then, they are awesome aunts and uncles.

Changing the family tree. That is a triumph to be proud of.

parenting, Photo101, Photography


KathleenBDuncan

I write about my life, my journey, my family, and my faith. I am wife to one, mom to seven with one in heaven, and grandmother to many. I am also full-time caregiver to my stepmom E who suffers from dementia due to Alzheimer’s. In my spare time I like to read, travel, crochet, bike, and play with our black pug Molly.

Comments (5)

  • It’s always difficult to break cycles. Congrats for being/making the changes you needed to for your kids. I love to hear that your grandkids will grow up feeling loved.

    Speaking for myself, even those who come from stable loving households don’t always know what they are doing when it comes to parenting. Maybe others know everything. . . . but I certainly don’t . . . and it doesn’t matter how many books I read to tell me how to do it “right.” I just do my best with what I have and hope it works out in the end. We love our kids so much, we want to know that we are always making the “right” choices for them. It’s just impossible to know.

    I hope that when my kids grow up and have their own families, I’ll be able to look at them and say these same things that you have about yours.

  • No better triumph than what you described. What a gift to be able to say, proudly at that, that your children are good people. Parenting is the hardest and most important job there is, and there’s no manual. Maybe you should write one??

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