Dear Kids,
I’m sorry about our lives. I think, if I’d known this was the future, I might not have had you. I love you so much. But I’m not your mother any more.
I know you’d argue with me. I think you like life with this person who always says yes to Daddy buying you stuff, doesn’t correct you very much, gives lots of hugs, and just sounds sad and tired all the time. I think two out the four of you don’t remember any other Mommy, and one of you never KNEW any other Mommy.
But I remember. I remember a MOTHER who would scold and spank and stand you in a corner, who still gave all kinds of kisses and hugs, who did fun and educational stuff with you, who taught a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old to “help” with chores over the rest of the family’s objections, not because I expected you to actually do the work for me, but because one day you would be big.
If I’d known that person was going to wear out, give up, and become another eater raising little eaters, I don’t think I would have had you. You deserve better. You deserve stung bottoms and lectures and warmth and hikes and camp outs and projects. You deserve ENGAGEMENT. And I don’t have it to give you, and all the people who could have done it in my stead are far away or dead.
Regretfully,
Mom
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"Alas, our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass, or rats' feet over broken glass in our dry cellar." --TS Eliot, "The Hollow Men"