This weekend has been spent caring for a sick child, baking for a church bake sale, watching winter become reality outside with whiteness all around, and a trip to a new store with friends.
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| She produces cute bundles of joys too – but I won’t post one….. yet! |
I could tell you all the things I did wrong as a parent with my children in this post but that isn’t the main point and would be a waste of time.
What I want to tell you today is create a connection with your children. Even if they are 37 or 10 or 5, find a connection if you do not have one.
Sit on the floor with the little one and play, forget the dishes and come play!
Call or text them throughout the week, if even to say ” I love you” and “how are you today?”
Write in a journal for them, but don’t give it to them until you are gone or they are adults. About events in their life, how much you love them, things you found interesting about them.
Write to them in handwritten notes, small words will become treasures when days gone by.
Spend time with them, doing something they enjoy.
I don’t do all of these all the time but I wanted to share ideas with you.
Find a connection, never let go, at least not all the way. Imagine a rope, like in tug of war, your child at the end, you at the other. As the years go by, the distance gets farther between you. But they will “tug” and need you again, they will allow you to help, but just remember to “release” once again. It’s just as important to be there when they tug and to know when to let go.
If you are a new parent or young parent, gather the strength within to love and discipline and allow them to grow while in your home. Allow them to try new things, so you can help them when a lesson needs to be learned. It isn’t easy but you feel more helpful and less of a failure of a parent when your children “test the waters” while still at home verses out in this big world of unknowns! Praying often and having a foundation built on God has immensely aided me during both these times.
I feel I realized too late that my job was to raise them and teach them to function on on their own someday. I wish someone would have explained that to me when I was 17. That’s my bit of advice, cause at that young age, I didn’t think that far ahead in life and I thought they’d always be with me. They are but just in a different type of way. My kids know in their hearts I did my best, and that if they needed me, I would be there.
Whether that meant paying a ridiculous price for a plane ticket, traveling in snow packed roads, holding a bedpan for them to puke in while they delivered a precious human, or if they needed to know how much water to put in the pan of hot dogs to cook them.
My children have some of my attributes, both the positive and negative ones. I can already see how PV has some of them as well. So now, depending on the one they are expressing, I either smile with pride or cringe with a pang of guilt.
But either way, I feel fortunate that GOD entrusted them to me. Each of my daughters are blessings and I hope they know how much they mean to me.
During this holiday season, whether you are the parent or the child, reach out to the other, even if it’s been a very long time, and make a CONNECTION.
Thanks for sticking with me through this long and random and therapeutic blog post! 🙂
Julie
