The more I think about this, the more this realisation feels like a big part of being a parent. Like our parents before us, we’re just figuring this stuff out as we go.
That thing when you realize how much you are like your parents, and rather than cringing as a teen, you can say that in love and honor.
Source: Measuring Dad Time
Parents often tell their kids they have superpowers of some sort. My favourite myth (which may actually be true) is that mothers can see through walls and whatever our kids are doing on the other side of those walls.
Fortunately kids believe this long enough to give us time to come up with something more plausible (and similarly effective) as they grow older.
Leaving aside the myths, there are times I think we really do develop some kinds of superpowers as parents.
One of my superpowers is the ability to hear a crying child over some background noise (in my case a fan in our bedroom) in the middle of the night and be on my feet and in my child’s bedroom before my conscious mind has even realised that I’m awake.
That sort of thing still amazes me after more than 9 years.
Image credit: Chris Barbalis
Just when you think you are the only parent who has to deal with ridiculous parenthood moments, you find posts like this that reassure you that you are not alone …
Science has given us the answer to why kids are soooo awful about picking up after themselves. pic.twitter.com/R2Yw1FKaMo
— HowToBeADad (@HowToBeADad) May 10, 2017
I had this conversation with our kids about two weeks ago:
This, of course, is a classic:
This is a daily occurrence in our home:
There are so many more of these gems but I have work to do and my daughter is going to start wonder why Daddy is laughing so much and what it has to do with her and her brother …
Check out How to Be a Dad for more. It is my new favourite parenting site!
Image credit: Eskimo kissing by Caroline Hernandez
Our son’s teacher recently asked the parents in the class to write a message to our son as part of a class assignment. She has been reading them to the kids in class. I decided to write a message to our son in English and attempt a translation into Hebrew. My translation attempt wasn’t great so I asked a friend to help me with a better version (אסף תודה רבה!).
I thought I’d share it here for posterity.
From the day you were born, the Sun has felt warmer and the stars shone brighter.
You have a kind heart and a sense of wonder that inspires us.
We have loved you since before we met you and always will.מהיום שנולדת, חשנו שהשמש חמימה יותר והכוכבים נצצו באור בהיר יותר.
יש לך לב טוב וחוש פלא שמעורר בנו השראה.
אהבנו אותך עוד לפני שנפגשנו ותמיד נאהב.
I hope this message to our son doesn’t embarrass him in class. I tend to wax lyrical when I am asked to write something about the people I love (even the people I like).
When Michal contacted me a couple months ago about contributing a letter to my Mom to her post series titled “A Letter to My Mom”, I agreed almost right away. I thought it would be a great opportunity to finally put into words some of my thoughts about what my mother did for me from my perspective as a parent.
It is virtually impossible to appreciate what our parents do for us when we are children. We have no real frame of reference. It’s all really about us and we’re mostly oblivious to what our parents go through as they learn how to be parents themselves.
My mother became a Mom when she was 20. That may seem old in some cultures but I think the rest of us can agree that is pretty young. My Dad was only 25 when I arrived.
I don’t think I had the maturity or emotional capacity to become a parent at 25, let alone 20 (in fact, I’m certain I lacked any reasonable dose of either). My parents raised me, my sister and my brother as best they could and without that elusive Parenting Manual that never seems to arrive when our children do.
The three of us now have families of our own and it’s only really now that I have an inkling of how my parents must have felt as new parents.
I’m still pretty new at being a Dad (about 9 years in) and I’ve learned that being a parent is mostly about doing the best you can to keep your children alive, clothed, fed and happy.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes, some of which I have shared and some which you’ll never hear about. I think I’ve also done a few good things too. Mostly, being a parent is a learning experience. It happens moment by moment and there are days when it all seems to be so easy. There are other days when I can only barely keep the doubts and worry at tolerable levels.
When I look at other parents, I see other people also trying to figure this stuff out. Some are better at some aspects of parenting and not so great at others. There are, of course, the parents who really seem to have figured this stuff out and I’m constantly envious of them.
Mostly, though, none of us really have the “How to Be An Awesome Parent and Never Let Your Kids Down” manual. We just muddle along and aim to make fewer mistakes that can’t be resolved with years of therapy when our kids are older.
So, this was what was running through my mind when I sat down to write my letter to my Mom.
I’m sure she feels guilty about mistakes she feels she made as a mother just as she is (justifiably) proud of the many great things she did. One of the things I wanted to communicate through my letter to my Mom is that whatever mistakes she may feel she made don’t matter anymore.
What I take from my experiences of being my mother’s child (at least in the first two decades or so of my life) have inspired me to be a better parent to our children.
When I think about how to deal with a difficult situation, I don’t think back to some dark, tragic moment in my childhood where my parents let me down (there really weren’t any). I think back to the happy moments, the positive lessons I learned and the times I felt loved. Those are the childhood experiences that shape me as a parent today and will in the years and decades to come.
So, after all of that I have two last things to say. First, go read my letter to my Mom. Second, thank you Mom. Love you lots!