Hangin’ with the mom crew.

Last week Kolleen invited a few of us to join her and the twins down at the lake for a coffee. And by ” the twins”, I do not mean her breasts.

Kolleen is the brave mom of fraternal twin boys. She was my first friend to have kids, and around that time I was pretty self-involved, which means that although I thought it was amazing that she was going to be a mom, I didn’t really see at the time how I could fit into their life in any way. I didn’t feel like she and I would suddenly not have anything to talk about or anything like that, it’s just that she was busy being all married and becoming a parent and a responsible homeowner, I was just finishing up university and trying desperately to scrape together enough money to move out of my dad’s house while still affording to go out for a few Strongbows at the end of the week.

I really do wish that I had spent more time with Kolleen and her lovely family when the kids were much younger. I feel like I missed out on some of the fun stuff with her at that time. Of course, you can’t change the past, and all I can do now is make sure she knows how important she is to me and how much I admire her ability to be such a good mother to her two boys who, to say the very least, keep her…ahem…busy. (Hi, Koll!)

As some of my other friends began to have children, I started to be more interested in watching them grow, and realized that I wanted to be a part of their lives. I wanted to show my friends how much I love them by knowing their kids, too.

Vicki had Sabrina. Andree had Cole. Then Tamara and Carys had Ellis. Now Andree has had another little daughter, Faith, who was so named because she was born with a knot in her umbilical cord. Not around her neck…just a knot tied there in the middle somewhere. Faith had done some major worming around in there! Motherhood seems to come so completely natural to Andree that I’m just…blown away by it all. She is so calm and listens with her whole heart.

When Kolleen suggested we get together down at the lake to have a coffee and watch the kids play, I was all in. I didn’t feel left out because I didn’t have any kids to bring with me. If anything, I was really grateful that I have amazing women friends who don’t exclude me because I don’t have children.

I get a real kick out of watching the kids interacting with each other, with their respective moms, and I hope, really hope, that the look of recognition I saw on some of their faces when I arrived at the park, continues later on into their childhood, and even as they grow into young adults.

And now, for the good stuff. Couldn’t you just eat her up?

Cole likes Jell-o. And Timbits.

(Check out my latest post at Playing in the Dirt: A first in my kitchen: pickling beets.)

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