Parenting

Parenting is something that has been on my mind a lot recently. I have been living with my brother and sister-in-law for the last two weeks and have had a lot of time to interact with my 8 month old nephew. That exposure in addition to interesting talks with Jet, listening to conversations from other young mothers, and my years of working at a daycare has taught me one big thing about parenting: EVERYTHING that a parent does when raising a child has some sort of effect. It is kind of a scary idea that developing children are so impressionable and that if a parent makes a mistake in raising the child, it can have effects for years down the road. I have heard stories of how a thing as little as always holding the bottle for the baby can keep the child from ever learning how to do it on their own and always be reliant on their parent for it. Every decision and the finding of a balance in such things as helping too much or not helping enough has direct results. Such questions are encountered as: How long do you let the baby cry? How can you teach a child a lesson without being too harsh? It this something he/she should learn to do on their own or is it something I should be doing for them? When is the right age for everything? With so many tough decisions to make and such a great amount of responsibility and power, it is a miracle that anyone ever chose to be a parent. Any person who exercises all their effort to be the best parent that they can be deserves to be commended. So although as I have gotten older I have seen things that my parents may have not done quite right when raising me, or things that I will plan on doing differently when I am a parent; I can also see all that they have done right. I have seen so many ways in which their good decisions or sacrifices have made a difference. So here's to my mom:

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! I love you and I thank you for all that you have done for me to make me who I am today. Thank you for ever taking on the challenge of raising me(and I know that it was a challenge!).


And thank you to all the parents everywhere for all the hard decisions and experimenting that you have done to try to raise the best kids that they can. Although you may not always be able to see or feel it, you are all appreciated and loved for what you have done. Keep up the good work!