While I hope my children are appreciative in all that dh and I do for them, my sincere wish is that they take me for granted one day. At least a little.
Growing up, my parents were ALWAYS there for me. Yes, my dad and mom both worked all day (very hard at that!) but I knew that they would be at the spelling bee. Or band concert. Or booster club meeting. Or our school's open house. Or when I needed to talk. Or to kiss me goodnight. No matter what, they were there... No easy feat when there were five of us kids. That's enough of a span to have at least one in elementary, middle and high school at the same time!
I remember complaining about my mom dressing nicely for open house. As in suit and heels. Mom, can't you just wear sweatpants and a t-shirt or something normal like the other mom's? I should've just been glad she cared enough to come and look nice to boot! My mom would also bring us lunch sometimes. Not just any lunch, mind you...but either a hot slice of pizza from our fav pizza place or a deli sub sandwich. It cost her a lot of time and her very hard earned money! Weren't mom's supposed to do these types of things? It wasn't until I was older that I realized I was a very lucky-ducky!!!
Today has been a pukey kind of day. My little chunky-monkey was sick last night with a fever and dispelling a whole bunch of gross-ities (yes, it is now a word). So I was up much of the night with him. Then today while I was running a necessary errand, Dash threw up in the car. As I quickly pull over, Tank throws up. Then he gets out of the car and gets sick again. And then on the way home. And then at home. Are you feeling a little green yourself, now? 
Anyway, you know these things never happen when dh is at home. He is just now (at 10pm) on his way home from work and has to leave again early tomorrow morning.
Ahhhh...but what does this have to do with taking parents for granted? Well, like any good daughter, when things get rough I call my mommy!
And guess what?! My dear mom and dad will be here to rescue me tomorrow. And I didn't even ask them to. They love me enough (or at least feel very sorry for me!) to drive the 4.5 hours here. I am so thankful that I have such caring parents. They found out about my day this afternoon/evening and are planning to leave their house tomorrow morning at 5:45am. Now that is love, I tell ya!
Just like always, they are here for me. It's not convenient for them. But they do it because they love me. And the grandkids (of course). Mom and dad, I promise that I will try to not take y'all for granted like I did when I was younger. And I hope that by following your example of dependability and sacrifice, that my kids will take me for granted one day too. At least a little. Because when they know that no matter what, they can count on me...I will know that I have found some measure of success.
11 comments:
Not about your boys puking all over...and yes, I do feel green right now...but about your parents. My mom does the same thing for me, even my mother-in- law. It does take a little extra effort considering Mom's in MO and MIL is in NY while I'm stuck in hot, humid FL....Was I complaining? See, just another bonus if I move to NC, they'll be closer. To be honest, that was part of the reason we wanted to move anyway.
Back to your 'hope to take you for granted one day boys', I will pray that they feel better.
You may need to take your own advice and dunk your brain into C-O-F-F-E-E til Mom and Dad get there. Sounds to me like you may be up half the night. I'll pray they sleep well tonight too:) Stay strong.
God Bless,
Amber
Just kidding. Only this morning I was cleaning up what the cat did on the carpet.
We too rely a bit on our parents from both sides. They both live 45 - 60 minutes away, which gives us enough distance to be independent, but with my back condition and general ineptitude at fixing cars, we need to lean on them a little. I don't like it sometimes, but then again, God isn't teaching me to be independent and self-made.
One other thing I've noticed is that our parents need to be needed. They need to feel like they fill a role as grandparents that goes beyond playing with the grandkids. Grandma likes making fleece throws with the girls and Grandpa likes going fishing or exploring. But they'll iron or do other things to help out, respectfully of course, because they know how much that helps us. My dad offered to fix a toilet I hadn't gotten around to fixing. I didn't turn him down because I appreciated that he wanted to help. It's his way of blessing us. We'll have plenty of opportunities to bless them as they get older and when we see them in heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is all about relationships. Our individual relationships with the Father and our relationships with each other are ones we will carry forward into eternity. Serving each other now eases our hell on earth and prepares us for the service we will do for each other in heaven. My folks have taught us how to graciously serve others, and that's the best gift I could ever receive.
Steve
PS: I responded to your comments on my blog.
It sounds like you are very blessed indeed! I hope everyone starts feeling better soon. (((HUGS)))
Do me a favor, will you Marsha? Hug your mom and dad for me when they get there. How precious of them to do that for you. I've never had that and I never will, and it hurts so much sometimes. But, I am determined that MY children WILL have parents just like yours. Thank you for sharing your sweet story. I hope the boys are feeling better, and the van is smelling better!
*shiver*
i liked that kind of ice cream, and now you kinda ruined it for me, and it had nothing to do with ice cream...
LOL
Oh, you're poor little guys...when the flu bug hits, our little ones are so sad...bless their hearts, I hope it is a quick 24 hour bug. How sweet of your parents and how wonderful that both you, your DH and your beautiful sons will have such wonderful memories of their grandparents.
Michelle
I love that my folks, too were always there-and still are. When I found out my ds #1 (14 yo adopted kid) was abusing ds #2 (3yo bio kid) My mom and dad were ready to drive 1200 miles back to my house just to be here (they RV full-time and had just got to FL).
I know that kind of LOVE - Ain't it great!!!
You are so very blessed to have such wonderful parents. My Mom would probably do something like this if she lived closer (13 hours drive), but she' s not the best influence to the children, even though she's a great grandmother. And my in-laws are too busy with their foster children to do something like this (even though they live nearby).
praying your little blessings are feeling better today
Christine
I hope your parents will get to read this... thanks for sharing!
Amy
it made me cry! I hope everyone is feeling better though!
Boy that just about brought big ol' crocodile tears dripping down my face. What great parents you have. My parents are in CA, and my inlaws are here and I can assure you that I would not get the same response form either set. You are blessed!
Sus
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