Today is my late father’s birthday. I’ve been wrestling lately with the parenting I’ve seen going on with the friends of my teenager. I thought I would compile a list of important things a parent can do when a child gets in trouble.
I think that just about covers it. I visited my mother recently. She no longer lives in my childhood home, but visiting her is always like coming home to me. We love to laugh and enjoy each other's company so much. We have fun together. She is my perfect mother who loves me. I still work to earn her praise just as I did when I was young. Do we ever grow out of our need for praise? Yet every compliment I hear from someone else doesn’t begin to compare to the feeling I get when my mother tells me she’s proud of me. Yeah, I want to feel like that. I wonder if I tell her enough how she means to me and how much I admire her. I know she would die to know I included a picture of Whistler's Mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1) by James McNeill Whistler as her picture. No, that is not how I see her! She will always be as young as she was on my wedding day even though I am older than that now. Regardless of her true age, she is still an interesting person to know. When I returned from my week long visit my teenager told me he was glad I was home. Yeah, I want to feel like that, too. If you are looking for ways to tell your mother how much she means to you, here is a great list. I usually have it all together. My holidays are free from stress and are peaceful family times. No kidding. Two years ago, I caught a cold just before the holidays. I caught it again this year. Why? Why me? I just want to whine the day away with a box of tissues. Part of our gift to my teenager is money. What do you get someone at his age? So, I had the brilliant idea of turning the money into origami pieces. Why not? How hard could it be? Pinterest has so many wonderful examples. It really isn’t that hard, but the clock is ticking and I’m wasting my time laying around in bed feeling sorry for myself. Maybe I will just put it in a card. Go easy on myself. Nope. Must. Be. Over. The. Top. Sigh, we make our own misery. This is probably my last turkey as well. Steak is so much easier to prepare. If only my husband didn’t love turkey so much. Perhaps it is the cold talking. I think I need a long winter’s nap. My son just had his wisdom teeth out. I have a horror story of when mine were taken out and dreaded his after care. It was a long week of recovery for him. Everyone seems to have a horror story of wisdom teeth. As horrible as it was I would have gone through it again rather than have my son go through it. It is a good thing, though, that he had to face it. As much as we think we want to protect our children, I really think my role as a parent is to teach him coping skills to use as an adult. There will be unpleasant and even painful times in his life. He will need to deal with them. He can learn to do that in his safe, loving home environment. We needed to tell him he was strong enough to get through it. Now it is a badge of courage and honor for him. If you can survive your wisdom teeth extraction, this will be nothing! My mother’s words have come back to haunt me- “This will hurt me more than it will hurt you.” and, “It’s good for you.” |
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