When You Are A Parent, Love Can Be Enough

Blog post #449 of 365

Love can be enough when you are a parent.

My kids had rules. They didn't always follow them, but they knew when they didn't there were consequences.

My kids knew I loved them enough to ask where they were going when they were walking out the door. They knew I loved them enough to ask who they were going to be with and when they would be back. They knew I loved them enough to meet every friend and if they were going to spend time with their friend's parents I loved them enough to meet their parents too.

My kids had to work. They knew I loved them enough to expect their homework to be done and done well. They knew I loved them enough to help them when they needed it. They knew I loved them enough to read together. My kids knew I loved them enough to expect them to clean up after themselves. They know I love them enough to give them experiences they may not have really loved had they not tried them. They know I love them enough to force 'volunteer' work until they understood it could be fun and wasn't really work.

My kids Heard the word no. They knew I loved them enough to say no when the occasion called for it even if they didn't understand at the time. My kids knew I loved them enough to let them learn sometimes getting their way wasn't a good thing.

Sometimes teaching those things were harder on me than they were on them but every time was worth it!

As a parent I have learned it is sometimes hard. The second hardest thing for me to learn was to let my kids fail. But they needed to fail. They needed to learn from their mistakes, bad choices, poor planning, and inexperience. I'd have loved for them to never have had to experience any of those things but I needed to love them enough to experience these things.

The hardest thing for a parent ever is to lose a child or a greandchild.