Do you ever get sick of having the same old battle over and over with your kids? Or how about wearying of just getting one problem solved, only to have a new conflict emerge?
It gets old, doesn’t it?
I’m not going to list for you the various difficulties and frustrations that led me to this post. Most likely you’ve got a similar list. If you’re anything like me, you’ve had that moment where you think, “Sheesh. How much longer do I have to do this? Why don’t they just get it?”
Assuming that a child is all grown up and matured by their 18th birthday (I decided to be generous in my terms), that means that we’ve got 18 complete years together. To look at it another way, that means
- 216 months
- 6570 days
- 157,680 hours
- 946,080 minutes or
- 567,648,000 seconds
That’s not short. This parenting gig is a long-term thing. Sometimes it feels like we’re never going to finish this journey, and like everything I do is a flop. The eye-rolling and frustrated sighs from my pre-teen children certainly don’t help.
But.
Time marches on, and they move toward maturity every day. I just can’t always see it when I’m in so close. There will come a time when the conflict and struggles cease, and they take their places besides us as equals and friends.
Then they’ll have kids of their own, and I will be free to laugh when they find out why I’ve been ripping out my own hair all these years.
by AmyL
(click on the Subscribe link to have each and every Forever Parenting post sent directly to your inbox – what a time-saver!)
Photo graciously provided by kaneda99, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
Oh, Amy. Time does march on, and before you know it they’re 23 and 19 and making their own way in life, and you discover that you must have done something right, because they’re strong and decisive and gentle and kind and respectful and amazing. And when they say “thank you” for being great parents, all the eye rolls and grumbling and feet stomping are quickly forgotten.
Oh, so true. I sometime wonder how many thousands of times I will have to repeat things, before they finally sink in. And then, suddenly, they do it on their own. Finally!
And then, the next week, it’s like we’re starting all over again. Or there’s something new that will need to be reapeated 8,000 times. Argh!
Nancy, you’re such a sweetie! You’re such an encouragement. I know that they’ll turn out okay in the end; it’s the glimpses of the men they’ll be that keep me from screaming and throwing my hair at them most days.
I’m totally cool with not being thanked until they’re at least 25.
STL Mom, today was a “Finally!!!” day. I told a boy he was being overly touchy and he actually backed off and got along with everyone for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow will be another day like that.