By Contributing Author Beth Sanborn, of Far From Camelot
I remember the day you decided you had enough. Daddy needed to go get something specific at Harbour Freight Tools, so after church we ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was across the street from the store. For some reason I was feeling very anxious that day but was acting rather calm. All I remember of the meal was the horrendous service. Finding the right tools at the store took forever. We were renovating the house you were to be born in. My walk-in closet was complete, the new laundry/mud room was formed, and your room was beautiful with the brilliant white chairrail and wainscoting. By the time we got home I was exhausted and needed to get my nap in. You see, you were (and still are) a night owl and you changed my sleeping habits forever. Evening time rolled around and daddy was finishing putting your crib together. I was feeling tired again and was able to get to bed before 2 a.m.! But around 4 a.m. you rudely woke me up and kept me up another 18 hours. On March 24, 2009, after what seemed like a dream that lasted 9 months, we woke up and looked into each other’s eyes for the first time. The nurses kept insisting to take you back to the nursery, but one measly stapled stomach was not going to keep me from taking care of my baby.
It took 9 months and 18 hours for the realization to hit that you really were a boy. The nurse that did the sonogram told us over and over again that you were, but I so wanted a girl. I wanted to have a do-over of the relationship I had with my mother. I wanted to do those girlie things that I did not get to do with my mother because I was too busy being a tomboy with my dad. I had to keep alive the tradition of mothers and daughters in our small family. Terror does not begin to describe what I felt when told you were a boy. I never had good luck with boys until I met your father. How was I going to keep up with you? I was not rough and tumble anymore. My parents taught me manners and how to sit still and behave. You certainly were not going to fall in line with what I knew was the way to be!
Turns out, you were everything I ever wanted or thought I needed! You are a little bit of everyone I love so dearly. All our grandmother’s intelligence; your grandfather’s athleticism; your father’s personality and curiosity about everything. Yet you are uniquely you. And everything I was ever taught has helped me to be the mom you need. I love you, Riley Benjamin, and I cannot wait to know the man you will grow up to be. Happy Birthday!
About the Author: I am a daughter, wife and stay-at-home mother to a 2 year old little boy. In my 3rd decade, balance and happiness have finally come into my life with a little help from my parents and a lot of help from my faith. I have been writing all my life but new to publishing. My first gig was contributing to a weekly mom’s advice column in a local online paper. I’m finding that blogging and all that the online community entails is where I need to be. Life has changed me but my passions have stayed the same; The South is my conditioning, history is what keeps my attention and Spring Training is what gets me through the winter. Check out her blog Far From Camelot.
