WHEN DO YOU STOP BEING A MOTHER?

The phone rang and an exasperated daughter asked me, "When do you stop being a Mother?" I told her, " I don't know, Baby, you just called me!" We both laughed because that was a classic example of parentings misunderstood directions. We forget these kids didn't come with a laundry label so you would know how to keep the kid looking it's best and understanding the ground rules. I only babysat twice so what I knew about taking care of kids was zilch. Besides, I became a photographers model as soon as I stepped one long leg out the door at fifteen. She evidently thought it over and understood her plight, not sure if I did so........... when DO you quit being Mom?

And where is the period when you go off and fly around the world or jump in your RV and take in some lakes along the highway, or your and a friend take one of those tours to the Canyon? I missed that somehow because this same daughter that was asking the question kept finding me in Arizona a couple times a year and at first I was a bit surprised since she wasn't too hot on talking to me as a child. Now Im sitting here in my native birthplace and she's acting like my Mother and I've been relegated to the child position again. Missed the whole thing I did. But I'm not going to complain or start any uprising. She hasn't made me go find her a switch yet!