17-1/2 years ago I gave birth to my sweet baby boy. From that moment on I have endeavored to teach him about the world, instill in him a strong faith and values. As I have grown up along with him I have tried to teach him the lessons I was learning so he would not make the mistakes I made. In short I have been working very hard for 17+ years to create a perfect version of myself.
So you can imagine my surprise to realize as he begins this final march toward adulthood that he has a mind of his own, that he wants to make his own choices, learn from his own mistakes and do things in ways I would not necessarily choose to do. It is almost as if he thinks he is an independent individual with a free will of his own. What is up with that?
But I think about my own parents and how I have, at every turn, done it different. And how my mom often has said over the years something to the affect of, "we have stopped questioning what John and Melanie are doing." Because they have come to see that while we have done it different, we haven't necessarily done it wrong. I can't tell you how much I have appreciated their support over the years, especially now as we look at Jake and realize he is probably going to do a lot of things different than us and see how much we need to trust him, trust what we have taught him and trust the Lord as he goes forward.
Parenting does not get easier.
Just saying.
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