The concept of parenting is enigmatic. Yes, there have been thousands of how-to books written on the topic of parenting, most by people who are actually parents, some by people who purport to know about parenting without having ever parented a single child. (Now tell me - whose book would you prefer to buy?) But the fact remains, I believe, that parenting is a non-exact science that simply cannot be structured as a one-size-fits-all concept. For every child on this earth, there must be a 504 plan for that one child, a plan that cannot nor should not fit another child.
Parenting is so mysterious that parents don't speak too much about it. After all, if parents really told the truth about the act of parenting, the world's pro-creation just might come to a screeching halt. Rather, parents simply nod their heads a lot and smile these little knowing smiles when around people who are not parents. After all, people in the parenting "club" want more people to join the club.
I became a parent with little or no knowledge of what it would be like. I had only my own upbringing upon which to build my parenting skills and my childhood was about as unconventional as they come. I was born to older parents who already had two children - 15+ and 13+ years old when I was born. I was an "oops" baby who was supposed to be a boy but emerged as a girl to join two other sisters. Poor dad. My two siblings admitted that I felt more like a little cousin than a sister. My nieces and nephews were close enough in age to me that they were more like siblings than my two sisters.
When my children were young, I mistakingly thought those were the hardest years, then came the teen years when that idea was shot down. Later the twenties proved that the toddler years were the easiest. All this knowledge comes from the school of experience as a parent.
Now that my children are adults in their thirties, one with children, one would think that parenting-type thoughts would disappear but I've discovered they do not. I still worry about them and their families, I still find the need to pray for them daily, I still wonder what they might be doing at a particular time of day, and I still find myself in a variety of fun situations and say aloud, "I wish _______ could be here!"
I understand that the parenting instinct, once awakened, will last 'til my last breath. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Ancora imparo
