Parenting

As children we thought that being a parent sucked. They were strict and restricted us from having fun. They were like a prison guard and monitored our every move and that proverbial “Blue Bird” that told all, especially when we hit those delightful teenage years. Oh how we revolted against having parents. The curfew times where a drag and seriously stunted our fun days.  And didn’t you just hate it when they threw that “wait till you have kids then you will understand” at you.

Then we hit the 20 something years and we start to see our parents through new eyes. We turned to them for advice on certain things, learned on them a bit more for moral support and also the financial support. Then we have our own children and boy does it hit home. Those words that were uttered by our parents come back to haunt us. The “wait till you have kids” speech. That speech turns out to be so true. How do then turn to our parents for more than just moral support, we turn to them and see them in a new light. How do we appreciate our parents now? We can now see what they went through, all the sacrifices that they made so that we could live without fear and worries. The truths that they kept hidden from us on finances and food worries. How much they gave up just so that we, as children, would not go without. 

The boundaries that they set up for us then make sense to us know. Why they were set up was to keep us safe and to give us structure. The discipline given was to make us into the mature grown adults we are today. So what do we do? We start to do the same with our children. We try to give them the same safe structure that was given to us. We try to instil into them the history that was given to us. We turn into our parents…..the ones that we always use to say that we didn’t want to be like. The same words come out of our mouths……but, yet, this time around we are proud to be like them. Proud to have turned into the adults we are today because of what they did for us. All we can hope for is that what we were taught we can carry over into our children and hope and pray that they turn out to be well adjusted mature adults too.

I use to dread turning into my Mother, now, when I look into the mirror and see her face staring back at me I am quite proud to be called My Mother’s Daughter. I miss her a lot, I miss her laughter, her nutty ways and most of all her wisdom and her love. Never take your parents for granted because the day will come when they are no longer around and the longing for days gone by hits you like a brick wall. All the “what ifs” come rushing in so do now what you can for them. Love them and care for them even if they are hard to live with because when they are gone, they are gone for good. Soak up all the wisdom and advice that they give you even if you do not need it now as there will come a day when you do need it and it is residing in you to take it and use it.

Parenting is not an easy thing to do. You make mistakes but you learn by it. No parent is perfect, even your own parents. It is a full time occupation and not to be taken lightly. It is never over even when your children have children of their own. It is for a life time and can be a most amazing experience that we are blessed with.

Parents…..love them, enjoy them, and take care of them and most of all Treasure them.