Passionate Parenting

I have said it many times – parenting is NOT for wimps.  It is the hardest yet most rewarding job on earth.  However, I do sometimes wonder if it would be JUST a little bit easier if my children shared my talents, abilities and passions.  

I LOVE to read.  I want my children to love to read.  They enjoyed me reading to them when they were little.  And truth be told, they enjoy for me to read to them now.  But for them to read for pleasure will probably never happen.  My daughter does not share the passion.  “I don’t get it, Mom!” And for my son, asking him to read for fun is the equivalent of asking him to perform surgery.  It is not going to happen.  He is doing great to read what he needs to read.  So, this aspect of a shared thing with my kids is gone.

I LOVE to organize.  Spencer use to.  Now, he doesn’t.  Shelby does pretty well, but it is on her level and time frame.  My level and time frame are different.  Again, I have to let this go.

I LOVE to clean.  My children do it out of complete necessity and fear of their mother.  They do not clean for the pure enjoyment of cleaning.  They do not get the rush I do from accomplishing chores in a fast amount of time and then sitting back and enjoying a clean environment.  They think I am nuts.  I think they don’t know me very well.

I LOVE to write.  When it comes time for Shelby to write, she is super sweet to me and says in the most precious voice, “Mom, can you please help me?”  Spencer asks why writing is necessary to life.  Ugh.

I LOVE to watch movies.  Hey – so do they!

I LOVE to watch certain shows on TV. They do too!

I LOVE vacations.  They do too!

I LOVE the holidays.  They do too!

I LOVE to hang out with my friends.  Ditto for the kids!

My daughter and I do share creativity and an adventurous spirit.  If we had unlimited funds, she and I would travel all the time.  My son and I use to have more things in common, but he is going through puberty right now …

 

We share a love for people, a love for our family, our faith, our pets and a longing to have lots of fun on this earth.  The silliness talent runs rampant – no getting rid of that!

So when it comes down to it, my kids may not share all of my passions, but they possess the most important ones.  It may make parenting a bit more challenging, but I would not have it any other way.