Worries

I'm worried about the price of gas. I'm worried about keeping my house clean. I'm worried about being able to afford Christmas presents for everyone on my list. I'm worried about my daughter and her apparent inability to learn to read....is she not trying? Is she really having trouble decoding or is she just not paying attention? A mother worries, as do most people, but having children magnifies that a hundredfold. You worry about your own ability to parent, your children's' health and their friends and their homework and their attitude and their sleep patterns....oh, the list goes on and on. It doesn't really even stop when they are older, nor should it, really. Of course they must grow up and go out on their own, but you never cease to be concerned for their well being. As a parent you should never emotionally detach yourself from your children, no matter how independent they may be. A child always needs to know that their parent is there for them, emotionally and otherwise, forever. Parenting isn't an 18 year assignment...it's a lifetime commitment, like any marriage or friendship would be. You don't get a reprieve for good behavior after your child graduates from high school. I wish more parents shared this philosophy. I know so many adults who have felt abandoned by their parents. They appreciate their parents need for their own life, yet feel as if they are no longer an important component in their parents' lives. How sad is that?

I know I will always worry about my kids, and I don't mind that. It is a price I am willing to pay to be their mother. I couldn't imagine a world without them in it. My life is better for having them in it, and I won't ever make them feel like I'm unavailable. I've seen what that sort of parenting does to a person. It demeans and lowers self esteem. It rips that child in you apart. That isn't the sort of trip I signed up for. I'm in it for the long haul, through Dr. Seuss, the teen years and beyond.

You're stuck with me kids! Get over it!