Happy Parents

If have to be honest here folks...I have been thinking about how to write this blog post for a couple of weeks, and now that I finally have the time to sit here and type it, I can't quite un-jumble all of the points that I was planning to make.  So I guess I will just bullet-point it and see if at the end anyone can make sense of it.

~ Last week a higher-up at my company was explaining how her adult-hood happiness stems from her mother's ability to make every day a great day for her children

~ In thinking of my own childhood, I feel that my parents did the same thing.

~ Now that I am an adult, I have noticed that my brain is constantly thinking all sorts of boring adulthood thoughts: "ugh, its time to pay that bill again", "how can the laundry basket already be full, I just did a load last week!",  "shoot, I missed that spot when I was painting", "another day went by and I still didn't manage to get the floor washed", "I really hope the roof doesn't cave in with all that snow...its a brand new roof!", "not another leak in the basement!!", "I can't believe how much movie ticket prices are!", "I wonder if revenues are going to close on time at work tomorrow", "oh man it is way too cold to stop for gas", "eek, I forgot to submit that report to my boss before I left today", "I'm pretty sure we'd be done with the yard work if Alex spent as much time helping me as he does on his music", "I'd much rather read my book than do the dishes", "I'm too tired to read my book",....you know typical, boring adult stuff

~ I'm pretty sure that my parents must have had similar thoughts (more or less) in their heads back in the days when they also had to raise 5 kids

~ I do not recall either of my parents ever complaining about any of their woes.  We didn't have the most money on the block, but I never heard them fret over money. After working a full day on the job (or sometimes 2 jobs in my dad's case), neither of them complained to me about having to drive me to band-camp or bowling. No matter how many times I interrupted, neither of them hesitated to put down a book or magazine they were reading to listen to what I had to say and offer advice on my silly, minuscule "dilemmas".  The only fight I ever witnessed between my mom and my dad was a very heated debate over the Louis Woodworth trial....and for about 30 minutes I thought they were going to end up divorced (seriously, that's how rare it was for them to display a disagreement in front of me)

~ I stayed out of trouble when I was a kid...not because I was afraid of getting punished, but because I had so much respect for my parents that I did not want to risk disappointing them

~ Even as a teenager, my preference was movie/game nights at home with my family versus going out with my friends on the weekend

~ I now know the mental strain of dealing and thinking of all of the stresses that come with living in an adult-world, while ensuring that my child gets to live in blissful ignorance of it. I value the importance of allowing him to feel and live in a world of happiness. He will have his time to have to deal with all of the adult-crap, he should not have to be burdened with it now

~ The overall point I am trying to make is that we parents all are experiencing financial, physical, emotional hardships (granted the degree is different among all of us), but we should really spare our children from having to enter into that world so early. Its our job to ensure they are enjoying this time in their lives, it doesn't require money, just your ability to direct your attention on them.  And hopefully by doing so, your brain will be able to push aside all of those typical, boring adult thoughts and give it room for that same kind of happiness that you are providing to your children.

This made so much more sense in my head.....long story long, don't forget to have fun in life...