This is that time of year when you might overhear the same chatter I have witnessed. It’s the sound of parents talking about sending their kids off to college. Or maybe it’s a conversation about children moving out of the home, finding a place, and finding their independence. Perhaps you are one of the parents going through this life changing event. I can certainly relate to these conversations.
I remember when I was in my early 20’s. I remember sitting around listening to my friends who had children. They would speak a whole different language. They would ramble on and on about their children as if they were the greatest things on earth. They would show photos of them as if I had never seen a child before. They would run on about their kid’s first word, first step… first everything. I didn’t get it. It was if they were members of some exclusive club, and I had no membership card. Heck, I didn’t want a membership card.
In June of 1996, everything changed for me. My membership card arrived when the stork showed up with my baby boy. I remember staring into his eyes the day he arrived, and the light went on. “Ah… now I get it. This is what it’s like to be a parent. I’m now a member of that exclusive club.” My membership was renewed in April of 1999 when my baby girl showed up. Just when you think you couldn’t possibly love another child more than your first, you realize you couldn’t have been more wrong.
How quickly we realize the tremendous responsibilities we have as parents. It is truly the greatest job on earth, but it comes with no instruction manual. You’re on your own here… and you pray to god you get it right. I truly feel blessed that I have such wonderful kids. As they have grown older and have both left the nest, one thing remains the same… they are the reason I get up each day and the last thing I think about before going to sleep at night.
It got me thinking about a passage I read some time ago that made me a bit sad. You work so hard trying to teach your children to go into this world without you and then, once they finally do, its bittersweet. Although the job of parenting never ends, many things happen for the last time… and I miss them.
Enjoy…
From the moment you hold your baby in your arms,
you will never be the same.
You might long for the person you were before,
When you had freedom and time,
And nothing in particular to worry about.
You will know tiredness like you never knew it before,
And days will run into days that are exactly the same,
Full of feeding and burping,
Whining and fighting,
Naps, or lack of naps. It might seem like a never-ending cycle.
But don’t forget…
There is a last time for everything.
There will come a time when you will feed your baby
for the very last time.
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child.
One day you will carry them on your hip,
then set them down,
And never pick them up that way again.
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on, they will want to bathe alone.
They will hold your hand to cross the road,
Then never reach for it again.
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles,
And it will be the last night you ever wake for this.
One afternoon you will sing ‘the wheels on the bus’
and do all the actions,
Then you’ll never sing that song again.
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate,
the next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone.
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your
last dirty face.
They will one day run to you with arms raised,
for the very last time.
The thing is, you won’t even know it’s the last time
until there are no more times, and even then,
it will take you a while to realize.
So, while you are living in these times,
remember there are only so many of them and
when they are gone,
you will yearn for just one more day of them.
For one last time.
~~Author unknown~~
TERRY Talks 