Parenting Lessons Learned from a Piece of Pink Cake
Yesterday was a definite eye opening day. It was the first
day back from summer of a mother's group I attend at
church. You could sense the excitement in the air of
catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Then it
hit me, this would be the first year I would be attending
without my oldest daughter. For five years, we had
attended together. There would be no more chasing my
daughter up the lobby stairs to catch her before she
independently went to her classroom. There would be no more
midday surprise lunches after my group, or meeting up with
friends at the park afterwards. It had all been replaced
with growing up and pre-kindergarten.
So I did what any other self respecting and grief stricken
mother would do: I went and picked up my daughter early
from school and took her out to lunch one final time! Sure,
she missed some academics, but then it was only the letter
M. And well, she already had a handle on that.
We went to one of our favorite restaurants. We laughed and
chatted over lunch while her baby sister slept. It was
great fun. While we were outside getting ready to leave, I
noticed my daughter's face was pressed against the window
of the restaurant. Curious, I asked her what was the target
of her affection. With her face still plastered to the
window, she gingerly said, "Well, I just wished we had
gotten some of that pink cake. Pink is my favorite color,
ya' know." I paused for a second and thought, "Why not?"
We went in and got a piece of that "pink" (strawberry
actually) cake, and brought it home to enjoy. My daughter
was especially thrilled, since we hardly ever get
dessert-because what small child needs more sugar!
Here are the three parenting lessons I learned from this
baked good:
1. Time with our children rapidly changes, and will soon be
gone.
Parenting consists of different challenges from infants and
toddlers to tweens and teens. Some days are more stressful
than others. Yet, each day that passes is one less that we
have to spend with our children. How have we chosen to
fill it?
2. Sometimes memories are just more important
When my job as a parent is done, the only thing I will have
is the memories. My sister once told me that memories do
not just happen. You have to be intentional about making
them. What kind of memories will my children have of
growing up?
3. What does it matter?
At the end of the day, what did it matter that my daughter
had a piece of cake? Now I am not suggesting that you
discard all discipline and routine, but we need to
prioritize the right issues to go to task with our
children. Am I creating unnecessary battles?
Sometimes it is hard to see the end of the race of
parenting. But, there definitely is a finish line. How are
you running the race?
----------------------------------------------------
Are you looking for more common sense advice, practical
solutions and even humor for parenting your teen? I invite
you to check out http://www.parentingyourteenager.com/
where you will find tips for parenting teens, school,
curfew, and more! Terre Grable is a licensed professional
counselor. She enjoys helping parents and teens become
better friends when they feel like enemies.
