Many times I have I heard myself saying to my daughter who has two very small boys, "Enjoy them while they are young because you are going to miss it later." I am sure that while she says, "Yeah, I know, Mom," she is actually cringing at my cheery, "You're gonna miss this!" when she is almost at the end of her rope with whining, fighting little boys.
The truth is, there ARE many things about our younger parenthood that we will miss. The snuggles. The giggles. The first steps. Piling into the big bed together and watching cartoons. Helping the kids make tent houses all over the living room floor. The funny or cute things the kids say. Fun holidays. The wonder on their faces as they discover something new. They are all memories to savor. But, that is not to say there aren't some really maddening times, sad times, times you wish you could run 100 miles and not come back, even wish you could wind back the clock to a time when you never had children.
As Forrest Gump said, "Life's a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you are going to get." It's the same with parenting.
As grandparents, we enjoy the great memories of our own kids growing up and tend to remember it as being mostly rosy. However, we are periodically reminded of the frustrating, annoying things that they did because they tell us so. While I prefer to look at the overall result of happy, well adjusted children, I do acknowledge there was some pretty rough terrain to travel over to get there. That, I don't miss!
Written by Sally Burgess, Forefront Families LLC
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