Do you think there is a parent heaven?
You would certainly hope so. After all, there should be some kind of a reward for all this hard but wonderful work.
Nature protects us from initially understanding this job. As you watch nervous first time parents coming home from the hospital they are so concerned about getting the car seat in properly, and then getting the baby in the car seat properly and finally surviving the first night home that they don’t realize something very important.
They are not only bringing home a baby, they are also bringing home a future learners’ permit carrying driver – yes, let me just say it – a teenager. Wheh! Thank God they don’t figure that out or they would take up permanent residence in the hospital under the watchful eye of professionals.
But still, there lessons are every day, and as parenting experiences pile up. Much like the children’s game of Chutes and Ladders, each day you get a step closer to winning, or in our case parent heaven. Naturally there are qualifiers such as going to Chuck E Cheese twice. Anyone that goes once can be excused because you don’t have a clue what you’re getting into. But when you do that second time, you are going with eyes wide open.
If you’ve ever sat through an entire season of little league games that start in March when you’re carrying your thermos of hot cocoa and wearing your parka and the games that end just before the 4th of July in the sweltering heat.
Another express pass to parent heaven is given to anyone that goes to a 4th grade recorder recital. The sounds coming from the stage of fifty 4th graders playing hot cross buns are enough to make your ears bleed. But we’re parents, and we react as if we’re hearing the sounds of the great classical musician Joshua Bell. We are there for our children and don’t mind any of these things at all, in fact they are a privilege.
Talk to you tomorrow.
