A tough job!

There are times when I really wish there was a Bible on parenting. You know, just the one book that we can follow and be sure that if the principles are obeyed and faithfully acted upon then a happy and prosperous relationship will exist forever between parents and children. No such luck! Instead, we’re left to follow our instincts, our stupid beliefs that what we do and say is for our child’s benefit and most times end up making a mess of things!

Why is it so difficult to accept that the cute little baby who looked up at us with those ever-adoring eyes now prefers Facebook to your company? Since when did she develop a mind of her own when not so long ago she needed you to decide what she was to wear?

When did kids get so smart that they can figure out within seconds how your computer works when it took you ages?

Though the heart longs to make a friend of your child, you can’t curb the maternal instincts that lash out every time she makes a mistake or takes a wrong turn.

When do you stop being a mother? When do you be the friend you believe she needs? Or do you be a mother who’s the friend? Can that really happen?

Do you ever stop worrying?

At first it was mere common colds and indigestions that got you worked up, then it’s exams and school and boyfriends, where does it go from there? The worry never really stops, does it?

And what sort of parent would be the best, the ideal kind of parent? The strict one? The relaxed one? The caring one? Or the one who just lets be?

There are some parents I know who can’t help being strict, they’re so sure they’re doing what’s best for their child that they don’t see how badly the tender relationship they have with their child is deteriorating. They blindly believe that one day the child would know they were only acting in his best interest. But what if that day never came? Then what?

There are some parents who trust their children blindly. Letting them do and be as they please. Allowing them to make their own choices and decisions without guidance or care. Is that really fair? Don’t they see how lost and alone the child is?

And then there are parents who prefer to talk and communicate all the time. Patiently explaining and describing and apparently caring yet never admonishing even when the need for admonition is dire. They refuse to see the sort of menace their child is turning out to be. Is that real parenting?

Who then is the perfect parent?

Why is it so easy to aim to be caring when care is needed, to listen, to love, to scold and to support the one person who’s most important in the life of a parent, and yet when it comes down to the real thing, why is it that the parent loses all sense and control? And ends up doing and saying the stupidest things?

How often do you get the chance to make up for all the parental mistakes you make?

If only there was a Bible on parenting that we could follow blindly. How easy life would be for many, many parents!