Focus On the Good to Enjoy the Growth
What do you see in this picture? You see a baby grinning from ear to ear. You see a happy moment with a child playing in the tub. What you don't see is a baby who peed in the tub, or a baby who threw a large cup full of that gross bath water in mommy's face. Parenting is full of joyful moments and it's also full of tough ones, but we can either choose to focus on the good or allow the bad overwhelm us.
Unfortunately, many times we let the bad to bring us down. We let it take ahold of all that encompasses parenthood. That negativity is what causes us to be so down and out watching them grow up and become adults.
Okay, I never thought this would happen to me. I never thought in a million years that my husband and I would be the type of parents to let our children come in our bed in the middle of the night, yet here we are. They sneak into the room like ninjas and end up leaving us with a mere two inches of space to sleep. No matter how comfy our bed is, they tend to flail around kicking us in the heads and giving us little to no sleep. I'm sure many of you parents out there have those same issues. You have your children showing up in your bed in the middle of the night uninvited. Most of us tend to focus on the negative aspects of sharing our bed though. After all, our beds are our one place to ourselves. It's our sanctuary. Our place for rest and relaxation. We don't want that interrupted, yet it is. The next morning we are in bad moods. We are complaining of our lack of sleep and angrily telling our kids that they're not coming in again. Of course, we all know its an empty threat. Doesn't this scenario sound all too familiar in parenting?
The whining and complaining and selfish way of thinking. I mean, just think about bath time and getting water everywhere. The many many times we hear them call our name. The newborn nighttime cries every two or three hours. The taunting "come and get me". Or even the mess of baking when they decide they "help". Here's what got me though. My kids are growing up, and so are yours!
Our kids are growing into new stages of life one birthday at a time. If we don't stop and truly enjoy each stage of their lives, we are going to be devastated when they do inevitably grow up. They are going to be done cuddling soon. Someday they are going to think it's weird and even roll their eyes if we ask them. Imagine what it would be like if we just stopped caring about our precious sleep and cuddled our kids all night. Imagine if we stopped caring about getting dirty from their little boogery hands and chocolate smeared faces and laughed with them just a little bit longer. If we just stopped being so selfish, maybe our kids would grow into new phases of life and we'd simply be excited for the new stage and ready to see what comes along with that.
We could be happy for them to grow up rather than grumpy that we missed out on so much of their childhood. We have 18 years with our children (typically). In the grand scheme of things, that's not very much time. Wouldn't you rather look back after eighteen years as they head off for college or other adventures and be overflowing with joy and good memories? Wouldn't you rather be excited for them on their new stage of life and independence? I can't speak for you, but I know I wanna be that way.
I wanna learn to give up my selfish desires for the goal of good memories, for me and for my children. Let's do it! Let's live our parenthood lives loving every second of it! Let us focus on those bath time giggles and playfulness. Focus on our sweet cuddles knowing we are the ones that comfort them.
Let's focus on the good so that we may enjoy their growth!
