Being a parent can be really hard and really rewarding at the same time. These little people demand a lot from the very beginning.
Babies require a lot of one on one attention, to the point where you wonder if you will ever be alone again. They want to be held all the time and for nursing mommas, they want you most of the time. It is precious and rewarding but also so very different and hard.
Then they get older and develop a personality all their own. I remember as a kid being told by my mom, “You just remember this, it will come back to haunt you someday.” when I would act nasty. I would just roll my eyes and say, “Yeah, right.” Well, when your parents told you this, they weren’t wrong. It will likely come back to haunt you way worse than the acts you dished out.
Kids will try your patience in one breath and then want to cuddle and snuggle in the next. You never know what the moments will hold until you are ankle deep in them. All those moments that you feel you are going to lose your cool, are so worth it for those moments of calm and cuddles.
The older they get, the less often the snuggles happen. They hit their teens and you don’t see them as much. They are in the house but they have their own things to do. Snuggling up on the couch gets replaced with video games and Zoom calls with their friends.
It is a journey that is well worth the wait and well worth the struggles along the way. There is nothing so special as teaching your child something you enjoy and watching their faces light up. Looking for something in common with them and then doing that thing often so it is something you can treasure as time well spent. Teach them that new game and have them ask to play it seventy times a day because they love it and the time you spend with them.
They see you as the fixer of all things. Not just personal things but the things they treasure as well. The things they treasure may not seem like a big thing to you but it means so much to them. My son has this blanket that he won at a karate Christmas party Christmas 2019 and it is wrapped around him every day. It is a simple soft fleece blanket but to him it is treasured. Our new puppy was playing around and jumped up and ripped his blanket. He was upset and begged me to fix it for him. At first, I put it off because there were other things that needed attention (life with 6 people). He kept asking and the rip kept getting bigger. He finally came to me and said, “Mom, will you please sew my blanket before there is nothing left?” He was upset and needed me to solve his problem for him.
That evening, I took his blanket and I performed a surgery and repaired his trusty companion. He was asleep when I finished it and I laid it on him. When I saw him the next morning, he was again wrapped up tight with his trusty blanket, a big smile on his face. I didn’t need anything more than that. Seeing he was happy and something as simple as taking 20 minutes and repairing it was the light of my day.
It is easy to get busy and to brush off the little things but those are the things to treasure. Raising kids is a definite labor of love but it is worth so much. Have you found the same to be true? Maybe you don’t have kids of your own but there was a kid that gave you a moment to treasure. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.