There’s so much rush to life: getting up, ready, and out the door on time for work; making sure the kids are up and dressed and have their show-and-tell items ready for preschool; scheduling the biweekly lawn mowing; meetings; family visits. The list of responsibilities for parents is never-ending, and it seems like everything is a constant rush to complete one task and get going on the next one.
As such, it’s the quiet times that really make the rushed times worthwhile. Our oldest daughter going to great lengths to set up our living room for a show she’s about to perform, and making sure we have pennies to buy our tickets and seats with a good view. My youngest daughter coming down to get me to read a story to her and then falling asleep in my lap for two hours. Both of them shrugging off my concerns over their being afraid to enjoy their first-ever viewing of two of the “Jurassic Park” films – surprisingly, without the crying and screaming I expected (case in point with my oldest, after a pair of T-Rexes has divided one of the characters among themselves for a quick snack: “Daddy? Will the others now go try and find him? Did he hide in the jungle? Will they be able to put his head back on?”).
Life can be brutal, exhausting, and often demoralizing. The work never ends, you never seem to have enough time or enough money to do everything you want or need to do, and you juggle all of this with trying to be a good parent. But that’s where kids can be helpful and give each of us a gift with the little things they try to do – to entertain us, to get our attention, to make us feel loved.
Make sure you enjoy those small moments that will help keep you going.
As such, it’s the quiet times that really make the rushed times worthwhile. Our oldest daughter going to great lengths to set up our living room for a show she’s about to perform, and making sure we have pennies to buy our tickets and seats with a good view. My youngest daughter coming down to get me to read a story to her and then falling asleep in my lap for two hours. Both of them shrugging off my concerns over their being afraid to enjoy their first-ever viewing of two of the “Jurassic Park” films – surprisingly, without the crying and screaming I expected (case in point with my oldest, after a pair of T-Rexes has divided one of the characters among themselves for a quick snack: “Daddy? Will the others now go try and find him? Did he hide in the jungle? Will they be able to put his head back on?”).
Life can be brutal, exhausting, and often demoralizing. The work never ends, you never seem to have enough time or enough money to do everything you want or need to do, and you juggle all of this with trying to be a good parent. But that’s where kids can be helpful and give each of us a gift with the little things they try to do – to entertain us, to get our attention, to make us feel loved.
Make sure you enjoy those small moments that will help keep you going.
3 comments:
My son, and my firstborn, was perhaps three or so when I first showed him Jurassic Park. He was fine until the T-Rex showed up, then he ran and hid under his bed . . .
Enjoy the moments, my friend . . .
The moments you describe will be treasured by your children, too. I'm on the near side of 60 now and still treasure long-ago moments with my dad. So on behalf of all the little kids in the world - even those who are 57 years old like me - thankyou, Dad!
Oh, this is so true! Some of my favorite memories from growing up are of sitting down to tea and cookies after school with my mom to just talk and relax. Now, my son remembers our pillow fights and playing hide-n-seek together and building train tracks or marble mazes. It's not the big events we treasure most; it's the time spent just playing and being together. And, I try to treasure the moments when he stops to examine a bug or poke a stick in a puddle when I'm in a hurry to go somewhere. The groceries and other errands can wait.
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