Natural Order

There is a natural order in this thing called life.
It goes something like this--as teenagers our parents drove their parents crazy,
we did it to our parents,and as the circle of life continues
so does the responsibility of our children to drive us nuts.
It is what keeps the world spinning around.

At no point do we cease being our parents children and therefore no matter what the age they still worry about us, as we will, and do with our own kids. Kind of a depressing thought when you are in the midst of frustration with your kids. For this reason I love having friends of many generations---they give me a perspective of where i am going and remind me of where i have been in the whole child rearing thing. I find that sometimes i am so busy focusing on the here and now that i forget where i have been. But here is the real reason behind these thoughts--i ran into one of the young women from church that i have not seen for awhile. She comes from a family with some major "issues". In talking with this 17 year old she is having to deal with some baggage that has been created by her parents. She made the comment that she was having to play "Mom" to her younger siblings and how frustrated she is that she has had to be the grownup in this situation. I couldn't help but feel sorry for this girl--I AM the mom, and that is my choice, and sometimes it stinks--but she was given this job based on birth order. She is having to make the best out of a horrible situation--to try and hold this family together, while those who are supposed to be the adults continue to make choices that bring heartache and sadness to this young lady and her siblings. Isn't being a teenager hard enough without the additional complications of raising your parents? While as parents we struggle in raising our children hopefully we have the perspective of parents who supported us through our difficult teenage times and that will help us help our children get through theirs. So friends when you think you have reached your capacity to deal with your children, just be thankful that you are doing it as an adult. We are here to help each other out in this thing called life. Lets just pray that our kids take turns having their meltdowns and we can each take a turn being the shoulder to cry on or the ears to listen to those who are in the midst of the turmoil.

Oh, to be only half as wonderful as my child thought I was when he was small,

and only half as stupid as my teenager now thinks i am.

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Rebecca Richards