Journey is You

Parenting, full time parenting especially, at least in my opinion, is wonderful and frustrating. There are days you are quite certain your child is an absolute genius and will create the cure for every disease that exists while simultaneously playing the violin and writing the novel to end all novels.

Other times you look at them and wonder how they make it out of bed. 

Or if you have given birth to a demon.

Sometimes this happens all at once. 

Like I said, kids are wonderful and frustrating.

It happened to be one of those intensely frustrating days. I was tired, well, how else do mother's feel? and my child was being, well frustrating. Argumentative. Stubborn. And finally exasperated I shouted "Will you stop acting like a three year old!" 

Then I looked at my child and said Oh!

Because said child was three years old. 

Oh. 

Life teaches us lessons. Age or stage we learn what those who have gone before us learn, and sometimes we turn around and judge those who are behind us harshly because they are just gaining the knowledge we already have. 

We have btdt. How could they not know? How could they have been so foolish or why do they think they are so wise to have discovered something we already were aware of, learned ourselves, 30 or 40 years ago? Or when we were first year in a particular program? 

Because they are now where we were then. And they need to learn the lesson for themselves.

Obviously if there would be great harm, one steps in. In many cases though it is best to step out, step back, and let them discover and learn on their own. To fail and to succeed, for if they can't err and own their errors,  they can't own their successes either.

And allow them to crow, for something we know, because we have been there, done that, and learned as well.