Parenting

9/1/2017

Finally, a long weekend for those of you who work.  I know that Jeff will really appreciate the extra day.  He needs the rest.  On weekends, I try to get the girls up and out of the bedroom, so that he can sleep in.  Truthfully, I can nap anytime during the day, particularly if I can get and keep the girls quiet.

I suspect that Jeff will go out to Andrew's house sometime this weekend.  I know that Jeff loves going out there and driving the tractor.  I'll likely stay home, I'm happy here.  Maybe I'm just too happy being at home.  

Jeff and I will celebrate out 42nd anniversary this month.  We've come a long way, and being 25 seems light years away.  Ah, if only you could give advice to your children, about some of the pitfalls you've endured as you got older.  But, actually that's pretty much a slippery slope, and most children don't want to hear what we parents are trying to say. I speak from experience, because in my early adult years, I didn't want to listen to their warnings about some of the things Jeff and I were doing - like going to a storage auction, bidding and winning a loser box!

But, as a parent, it is only natural that you want to protect your children.  You don't want them to fail, and you don't want their hearts to be broken.  At some point, parents have to back off, sit on the side lines and watch and wait for a child to come and ask for help. Then, and only then can you provide them with advice, which they may or may not take.  Nobody wants to watch their children crash and burn.  I can speak from experience that my parents had to watch me go into what ultimately would be a short and bad marriage at 18.  And eventually come back home until I could get my feet back underneath me.  Even though I know they wanted to, they never lectured me about getting married so young and then having to get a divorce.  I was thankful for that.  

You know with almost certainty when your child is about to or already has made a big mistake.  A life changing mistake - sometimes for the better and sometimes not, but we slog along.

I think Jeff and I are fortunate in that the boys are not afraid to call Jeff when they need help with something.  As a mom, I can offer very little input about wiring, plumbing, etc.  😊

So I hope you get to leave work early.  That traffic isn't too bad and that you have made some great plans for the weekend.

P