Parenting

I think even before we think of having children we think of the parents we would like to be. We say to ourselves that we'll do certain things our parents did or did not do. We'll also say that we'll won't do some things our parents do. I remember seeing parents out with screaming toddlers, a Mom that looks a little haggard and thinking to myself "Not me. Not my kids." I laugh at that girl now. I am the tired Mom that may or may not put makeup on. It just depends if I care to or not and maybe if I have the time before we have to leave the house. My goals have changed from wanting to always be dressed nicely and looking cute to making sure my son is well fed, well rested and happy. If I can achieve that in a day, then I call it a successful day. Sure there days when he doesn't want to eat as much, skips naps or for some reason has shorter ones, and is cranky for obvious reasons of being over tired or maybe just plain sick. My world for me revolves around my husband and son. I can't imagine it not as my husband is my partner in crime and my son needs me . But what about those parents that are less then there? How could they be?

I wonder how some parents can just let their child go free. Let them do what they want 24/7. Do things like drink excessively, and/or do drugs, and/or party like they are teenagers again when their child needs them. I am not talking about the occasional tipsy night you have with your friends after the kids have gone to bed. I am talking about drinking/drugs/partying when your child is awake and needs you. How can you ignore that little face? Their little needs? How on EARTH can someone care for a little person with half the attention span? It takes 100% of my energy to care for my son. I frankly don't get how, but I am guessing all people including children are just survivors.

Children to me are God's most precious gift. They are miracles, each and every one of them. Once you conceive and have that little person, your life no longer belongs to you. It belongs to both of you (and more so that little person). Parenting is the hardest job in the world, but also the most amazing, rewarding and most important job you will ever have. Shaping a life is a gift and one that no one should take it lightly. Being there, being present, being active and engaging with your child is what I call parenting.

I included a few quotes for this post for you readers that have either made me smile or made me nod my head and say "right on".

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories. ~John Wilmot

There comes a time when a woman needs to stop thinking about her looks and focus her energies on raising her children. This time comes at the moment of conception. A child needs a role model, not a supermodel. ~Astrid Alauda, on the "hot mom" trend

Your children need your presence more than your presents. ~Jesse Jackson

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it. ~Haim Ginott

If you have never been hated by your child you have never been a parent. ~Bette Davis

The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. ~Lane Olinghouse

Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children. ~Marilyn Penland

My mom used to say it doesn't matter how many kids you have... because one kid'll take up 100% of your time so more kids can't possibly take up more than 100% of your time. ~Karen Brown

The guys who fear becoming fathers don't understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child raising is not the child but the parent. ~Frank Pittman, Man Enough


The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents. ~John J. Plomp

In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage. ~Bill Cosby, Fatherhood, 1986