Day 5 #100DaysOfOldDays
As I was going through old photos on my memory stick, Google photos decided it would be a good time to indulge me with a collection of memories on my phone. As I looked through the past photos I noticed similarities between these that were taken twenty six years apart.

These two photos were taken 26 years later: one is of my eldest daughter again, on a beach with her own daughter, aged two and a half (and camera shy). And the other is of me with my youngest daughter, also aged two and a half. Now Little Miss Ten.

The photos are similar but the times were quite different. At 18 I was a teenage mother. At 43 I was considered a geriatric mother—I prefer mature mother, thank you!
Parenting styles were different. I parented like my mother for my first two children. With my third child I relaxed a lot more and did things my own way.
So, did I know it all when I was 43 having my fourth child? God no. It was like starting from the beginning, but because I was more mature I tackled it from a completely different angle.
Now, we all know there are things that never change when it comes to babies: they all cry, they all need feeding, clothing, they get sick, they fall, they poop, they get nappy rash, then they have tantrums when they get on a bit. And they all need love and attention. So no matter what year it is, parenting can be hard work!
I have to say though, my first child had so much more freedom growing up than Little Miss Ten has now.

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You were so young ❤️ Fabulous photos 🥰
Sent from my iPhone
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I love these pictures. Are your granddaughter and your youngest daughter the same age? My son is the same age as my youngest brother and my aunt and I are only 2 months apart.
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Yea….I love that Darlene! Yes, Bella is only 3 months older than my Lucy. It’s lovely for them. They’re very close…like twins! Lucy’s older nephew is nearly 18. 😃
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That is awesome. My aunt and I are like twins and even though we live thousands of miles apart, we know when each other is hurting.
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Wow! That’s lovely! Amazing. I hope Lucy and Bella will always be such good friends. I think they will.
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Very fun photos, Gloria. I never had children, but remarried after my first husband passed away. I was 43, and wanted to have a child. My second husband did not want that, so I have satisfied myself to being a late-bloomer step-mom to his then 25-year-old son. He is now 52. YIKES! I would have been 18 if he had been my real son.
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Thank you Marsha. I’m sure being a step-mom has as many challenges, and as many rewards!
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I don’t think they are called stepmoms though when the children are grown. But as you know, they are always children. 🙂
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What a great post! I loved the comparisons. I was 31 when I had my first, most of my friends had theirs much younger (in fact my father in law once remarked we would never have children as it was too late!), but things happen in their own time and own way.
Lovely to have been introduced to you through, Marsha’s Story Chat. KL ❤
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These days 31 is most definitely not too late KL. Another expectation that has slackened down through the years – thank goodness! Yes, things do happen in their own time and should be allowed to do so. Mother Nature knows best! Thanks for reading KL.
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