When one of my favorite editors put out a call for pitches looking for stories about being an ‘old’ parent, I had one of those hold my beer moments as I grabbed for my laptop. Having had my first child at 18 and my last at 38, I am grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences as both a too-young and also ‘old’ mom.
The Cannons – Longwood Gardens – Kennett Square, PA 2008
As a teen mom (decades before the MTV reality show) I lacked patience and life experience among other things.
At one point, I was doing crack-of-dawn surveillance for a PI firm investigating fraudulent Workers Comp cases “down the hill” from the San Bernardino mountains where I lived, and would be back in time for the 3-11 shift waitressing at the local coffee shop. The ends rarely met. It wasn’t unusual to float a check to our local taco joint on ‘my’ weekends.
My three – Lake Worth, FL
“As an old parent, I have stability and a healthy marriage. I stopped working after the birth of my oldest daughter, and was fortunate (thanks to my husband’s job) to be able to transition to full-time stay-at-home mom. I overcompensated for every past mistake, changed almost every diaper, and never missed a thing. Every milestone moment of my daughters’ early lives was a painful reminder of what I’d missed with their brother. We’ve done a lot of healing.”
Jennifer J. Cannon 