I'm going to miss this

Tonight, I sat down to watch my weekly 2 hours of Biggest Loser. That is by far, one of my favorite shows on t.v. I love to watch how dramatic the changes can be or how much weight can be lost in a single week. Well, any of you that follow this show knows that this season, the teams came in as pairs; either a father and daughter, husband and wife, friends, brothers or a mother and son, or daughter. Every week, someone goes home. For the past couple of weeks, it has been a member of either a mother/ daughter team or this week, a mother/ son team. When pleading their case, the team asks the others to vote off one or the other for various reasons. Of course, the past couple of weeks, it has been the mothers pleading to keep their children on the show so they can continue to lose weight. Not suprising. That is what gets me, the trainers and other contestants go on and on about how "giving" these mothers are to want it more for their children. My question is, don't all mothers think like that? At least the ones I know do.

Seriously, what mother would not want her 400lb. child to continue to lose weight in place of themselves? What mother wouldn't give up her spot immediately for her child? I know I would. I know all my friends with children would. We have. Maybe not on a prime time television show but in everyday life.

I know that many times I have given my last 10 bucks to my daughter for gas money or sat at home and did nothing so my other children could go to the movies with their friends. I know my friends have done the same for their own.

I honestly think that just giving all you've got is all a mother knows. We give and give and sometimes lose sight of what we are really all about. And the thing is, we really don't mind. That is just how God created most mothers.

I know that one day my children will be out of the nest. They will be on their own and won't need me to give them gas money or run them here or there. I will wake up and have no children at home to get off to school. I'm not sure what hobbies I will have because I don't have time or really even a desire for any now. I just know that building a home filled with love, compassion, discipline and giving is what I have been programmed to do since I had my first at the age of eighteen.

A friend of mine and I joke all the time about how we will pull out our leathers and ride our Harleys when the day comes because we were both so young when we devoted our lives to cooking, cleaning, wiping noses (and bottoms) and making "emergency" trips to the school for a binder that got left at home and has that day's homework inside.

I'm still uncertain about the Harley and leathers but one thing is for sure; for the next few years; I will continue to step aside so my children can benefit. After all, I'm going to miss this when they are grown.