Sunday, August 8, 2010

Treasure every moment -- even the hard ones

This post by Katie Granju at MamaPundit made me think about all of the little gripes I've been carrying around in my head, and then blew them all away.

After listing some of the things she doesn't regret doing as she raised her oldest son, Henry (who died, at age 18, of injuries sustained in a beating during a drug deal earlier this year), she writes:

Treasure EVERY SINGLE SECOND with your children, even the really hard ones. Be in the moment. Relish every kiss, every hug, and every boring school play. Never miss the chance to tell them how much you love them and believe in them. ... Parent in a way that wouldn’t leave you with too many regrets if you were faced with the unthinkable.
We all know that parenting isn't all wine and roses -- some days it doesn't even rise above water and weeds. Studies show that parenting doesn't make people happier; given the fact that they volunteer for the job, step parents may deserve extra combat pay for dealing with issues other parents don't have to. But regardless of how you became a parent or how old your kids are, regardless of what difficulties you've overcome or what challenges still lie ahead, there are bound to be a few things you wouldn't change if you had a chance to do it all over again.

What do you not regret?

1 comment:

Leandra said...

Unfortunately, I would probably have too many regrets. But I try every day to be in the moment.

One thing I don't regret is staying home with my son when he was a baby. Even though it meant going to part time at a job that I loved.