Articles

Thumbs Up to Parents!

Thumbs Up to All Parents/Caregivers

As I write this, I am sitting in a bed and breakfast in Montreal, helping to get one of our daughters settled into her new residence at McGill University.  At the same time, our son has arrived in Montreal to visit his sister and spend some time here and in Toronto prior to leaving for an adventure in Central America to learn Spanish and to cycle his way through some Central American terrain.  Our other daughter is entering her last year of high school, happy to be back at school with her friends and a little stunned that this is her last year of high school. 

As my daughter and I shopped….and shopped…and shopped….for items for her apartment and for textbooks for the lecture halls, I noticed other parents making their way up the seemingly never-ending hill, called University Street, that makes its way up to the residences of McGill University.  Some of these parents drove up in cars with Ontario and Quebec license plates and others, like me, flew in for a long weekend or longer to assist with the move-in.  Other students arrived on their own, and with the help of friends, carried boxes, lamps and television sets up the stairs to their residences and apartments. 

One of the buildings on University Street that the university students walk by to get to their classrooms or to their residences is an elementary school.  When not in class, the young children of this school are on the playground doing what little children do – skipping, throwing balls and playing games.  When I walk by and see these kids, I imagine some of them, in their future, walking the long walk up University Street to study.  None of these children got to where they did without the encouragement, support, and love of their parents or caregivers.  Most, if not all, of these children, big and small, were also supported by extended family, friends and a community. 

As for my own children, I feel immense happiness for them as they embark on their upcoming adventures in school and travel.  I am so proud to be their mom and incredibly grateful that I have had the opportunity to raise them.   Their enthusiasm for life is infectious.  My wish for them is simple:  stay true to your values, nurture your relationships with family and friends and do work that is meaningful to you. 

So as I reflect on my own parenting, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the parents and/or primary caregivers who day after day, 24/7, through easy times and through difficult times, have shown a commitment of love and care to their children.  Raising children is a “labor of love.”  As parents, we all wonder at times, whether we could have parented better -– maybe we should have done this or done that. There is a lot to learn as a parent.  There are undoubtedly things we all could have done that would have made for more stellar parenting moments! For the most part, I believe, we all do the best we can with what we know at any given time.  Be kind to yourself.  What I would say, though, is that children really do hear what you say and they really do see what you do.  And both of those things affect them.  Something to keep in mind.

Parents, love your children.

Children, love your parents.

Barbara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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