The Light at the End of the Tunnel

home insemination Kit

A few years back, I found myself sitting on my therapist’s couch, feeling utterly overwhelmed. “It’s like I’m treading water, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t keep my head above,” I confessed. At that time, I was juggling four kids in different schools, which meant attending four back-to-school nights, four sets of teacher meetings, and coordinating drop-offs and pick-ups. On top of that, I had just started a full-time job from home and was navigating a particularly tough divorce. Talk about a perfect storm.

I must have looked a bit frantic in my yoga pants, clutching a throw pillow as I poured out my woes. In her calm, reassuring tone, my therapist suggested I create a five-year plan to visualize how things would improve. “You need to see that life will become so much easier,” she encouraged. Being the good patient that I am, I went home and mapped it out. To my surprise, I discovered that soon, one child would head off to college, followed by another the next year. My third child would transition to high school, and my youngest would finally move to a middle school just a short walk away. By the end of five years, I’d have three kids with driver’s licenses, and my youngest would be nearing 12. On paper, life looked a lot calmer, although it felt far off.

Well, fast forward to now, and guess what? Life is incredibly easy—almost too easy, if that’s possible! I didn’t even have to cook dinner last night. My daughter is a senior, usually busy with her jobs or hanging out with friends, while my youngest is off doing his sports thing. It’s often just me and the cat at home.

Five years ago, I never imagined how much things would shift. Back then, I was buried under a mountain of work, managing college applications, grocery shopping, laundry, and trying to support one of my kids who was having a tough time. Now, I’m sipping wine and binge-watching my favorite shows.

But here’s the kicker: things are about to change again, and not necessarily for the better. In five more years, the only one who’ll need my attention might be the cat—if she’s still around. I’ll have three college graduates (fingers crossed!), and my youngest will be driving and in high school. Even crazier, my oldest will be a whopping 27 years old. Mind-blowing!

Unlike before, where planning for the future brought me comfort, now thinking about how grown up everyone will be makes me a bit nostalgic. Sure, I don’t want to return to the chaos of having three teenagers in the house—that was intense—but it all felt like it would last forever. Now, it’s like a blink and it’s gone.

To all the moms out there feeling overwhelmed, I get it. Your kids can drive you nuts with their bedtime protests and cries of “You’re the worst mom ever!” You just want them to hurry up and grow up. But trust me, one day you’ll miss those little moments: the trips to Toys R Us or Game Stop, the long dinners where they complain about everything you made. You’ll find yourself longing for the noise and chaos that once felt relentless.

So, hang in there, mamas!

For more insights on navigating this motherhood journey, check out some of our other posts, like this one that dives deeper into the challenges we all face.