I Became A Mom Eighteen Years Ago

my baby is going to Art College

Feb 12, 2024

This is one of my most treasured pictures; it was taken on the day my firstborn, my daughter, was born. I remember feeling immense gratitude for bringing new life into the world.

Eighteen years have passed since I became a mother, and it's hard to believe how fast time has flown by. This past Monday, my daughter turned 18, and the reality of it all feels surreal.

She's been eagerly counting down the days for months, constantly reminding me of her upcoming birthday. Although I knew it was approaching, I wasn't quite prepared for the emotional impact.

I've been feeling emotional recently, especially as I prepare for her high school graduation in May and her departure for college in August. It's a lot for one person to handle.

And it's not like she's going to college just a few miles away - no, she's headed to one of the most prestigious Art Colleges that’s in Brooklyn, New York, on a scholarship. It's a seven-hour and eleven-minute journey from home. Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

As I wished my daughter a happy day at work with a voice note on the Saturday before her birthday, tears started streaming down my face.

It was then that I realized that my daughter was turning eighteen, and I had successfully raised her past the age at which my own mother stopped showing up for me.

Over the years, I had often been plagued with the fear that I wouldn't be a good mother due to my unhealthy relationship with my own mother.

However, as I spoke to my daughter, I realized that not only was I an amazing mother, but I also had a close relationship with her - something I had always wanted.

This realization was healing for me in many ways, and it helped me see that just because I didn't have a great relationship with my own mother, it didn't mean that I couldn't be a great mother to my children.

I am thankful for therapy because it helped me heal from my past so that my children don't have to suffer from it.

When my children were in elementary school, I decided to homeschool them and start a business simultaneously. I was unhappy with the education system and noticed that my daughter had a talent for art and I wanted to nurture her.

I knew she wouldn't have the time or space to focus on her creativity in school, but being homeschooled gave her much freedom.

Initially, my daughter used an artist's tablet that I bought her from Amazon to create her own characters and animations. She even started a website and a YouTube channel. Later on, she asked for an iPad, which allowed her to create more using Procreate.

I noticed she kept getting better and better, and there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t practice.

My daughter took many art classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art and visited museums frequently, which exposed her to many different styles of art.

In 2020, she told me she was ready to go to school, which was a difficult decision for me as I was unsure how she would do in a traditional setting after being homeschooled for six years.

However, she had a great art teacher who was impressed by her talent. So much so, that she encouraged my daughter to enter some of her artwork into the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards, an alliance for young artists and writers.

This was a great experience, and my daughter won honorable mentions on several art pieces. She was also asked to illustrate a children's book by a local author, where she had a lot of creative control.

During this time, we learned about the pre-college program at the Cleveland Institute of Art. My daughter has been a part of this program for three consecutive years, which has helped her grow as an artist. For the past two years, she has been in AP Honors Art Classes, and her art teacher has been an amazing mentor to her. The teacher said she had never had a student like my daughter before and has been so supportive in helping her prepare for Art College.

My daughter's work has been a part of several college exhibits, and she has won numerous awards. I often think about the quote by Malcolm Gladwell, "It takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of complex skills and materials."

My child has definitely put in the hours to master her craft, so it's not surprising that she got accepted to every art college she applied to, along with scholarships to each one.

I am proud to be her mother, and I feel like I have the Serena Williams of the art world. I saw her gift early on and decided to nurture it by giving her every opportunity that she needed as an artist.

My baby is headed to Brooklyn, NY in the Fall and I am excited to see what the future holds for her and how much her life is going to expand.

In my business, I have been teaching women (and now men too) how to be free and live the life they choose, and the fact that my daughter gets to live out her dream at such a young age, I couldn't ask for anything more. It's never too late to dream, decide that you want something, and then pursue it, no matter what.

Let’s chat: What’s your biggest wildest dream?

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