Smack dab in the middle of Josiah's birthday, I'm stealing a few moments to post a couple of quotes from a little book that my parents passed along to me. It's a parenting book, specifically about how to help our children grow in their faith. When they hand me a parenting book, are they subtly telling me that I need to do a better job with their grandkids? ;-) Well, even if so, it's true: I ALWAYS need to do a better job with parenting, and I rejoice in the opportunity to learn and grow and become more of who God created me to be, as a mother or otherwise.
Without further ado, here are two humorous quotes from Pass the Faith, Please by Lori Borgman:
Eighteen years seems like a long time when you bring that little bundle home from the hospital. Older women whose children are grown may look at you with your ducklings in tow and say, "Enjoy them while they're little; the time passes quickly." If you're having one of those not-so-good days, you may think, "Well, lady, the time isn't passing quickly enough." And then it happens. One day you blink twice, turn around, and your kids are not little anymore. They're shaving, shopping for prom dresses, driving a car, and making plans for a mission trip to Haiti. It seems like only yesterday you told them that under no circumstances were they allowed to leave the backyard.
With my firstborn turning nine today, I can definitely relate to this. Where has the time gone??
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Some days I feel so young as to border on childlike. Those would be days when I'm at my parents' home in Kansas City. During my last visit there, they reminded me not to put silverware down the garbage disposal (whew, that was a close one!), to take quarters to the car wash (aren't those the big silver ones with the eagle on them?), to be careful of the lid on a newly opened can (you can get CUT!), and not to lose the house key (so much for my dropping it off at the federal prison in Leavenworth).
Since moving out of their house, I have married and maintained a family and home for twenty-four years. I have learned to distinguish between termites and carpenter ants, three times I have rolled through the doors at the hospital marked "Delivery," and I write a nationally distributed newspaper column--but in my mother's and father's minds, I will always be age ten.
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For more gathered words, visit Barbara H.'s Stray Thoughts.
Great words Davene! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy mom does the same thing. I guess it is a good reminder that I will always be her little girl.
ReplyDeleteJosiah's nine?! that's not fair.
ReplyDeleteand this book is going on my to read list when i'm a parent, for sure. :)
These are great quotes. I remember always feeling like a little girl when I’d be around my parents too. Now that they’re both gone, I miss that feeling. Now I have to be a grown-up all the time....
ReplyDeleteI am definitely at the stage where I’ve blinked twice and my daughters are no longer little. My oldest is getting married in August and my youngest is now taking the car to drive to grandma’s. Where does the time go???
I enjoyed these quotes. I think I might have to read that book sometime, after I finish another book I'm reading (which is actually one you recommended, The 5 Languages of Love). I'm glad you read so I can find out which books are good ones!
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about the gift of a parenting book seeming like a message that the person "needs" it. I'll have to be careful about that!
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like children grow up all too fast -- which is hard to understand when some days seem so long! Though I love the young men my guys are becoming, sometimes, I really, really miss those little guys I used to have. Maybe that's why parents so look forward to becoming grandparents and having a little one to hold again.
I still get that feeling of being thought of and treated as a child from my mother-in-law (both my parents are gone). I guess it is just inevitable. I try not to do that with my young-adult sons, but it does slip out. I told my oldest that when I told him to be careful every time he left the house to go somewhere, it wasn't because I really thought he wasn't going to be -- it was just a way to show I cared. I hope they always take my "admonitions" that way -- and I need to remind myself to take my m-i-l's that way.
I want you to know that I've been reading, but not commenting. But can I tell you that I can't believe Josiah's nine? Wow. Time DOES fly.
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