Thankful for Every Day

Parenting three kids at different stages of life is difficult and stressful, to say the least.  "Fourteen-year-old girl," "12-year-old boy," and "4-year-old boy" represent starkly distinct bundles of challenges, each of them ever changing and full of surprises.  It's a lot to bear, and I'd be lying if I didn't fess up to daydreaming about retirement now and then, not just for the luxury of not having to work but for the luxury of not having to worry about all that comes with taking care of children.




Ah, but I know that these days are precious, and that I will miss them dearly when they're in our rear view mirror.   Indeed, I am holding in my heart that every single day is precious when it comes to being a parent.  And I think this is particularly true for adoptive parents.  For we were given these children to love and care for and watch grow.  What a profoundly wonderful blessing!

For each of our children, when I wake up in the morning I am reminded that they have never been exactly this age, and when the day has past they will never again be exactly this age.  Today is the only I get, to see who they have become now, for tomorrow that exact age will have passed.

Sometimes the "progress" is maddening.  We do have a teenager living under our roof (and another who is just months away), after all, and the complex and unpredictable nature of the maturation process of a teenager is something else.  And sometimes I wish we could skip ahead.  We do have a four-year-old living under our roof, as well, and it is easy to look ahead a few years to a time when everything isn't a fight.

Hence, it is a good reminder to savor each day.  Each day is a gift, a unique slice of time that we've never seen before and will never get to see again.  The kids, they grow up so fast, blink and you'll miss it.  This is what parents of older, grown children tell me.  So I'm trying not to blink.  This Thanksgiving season, I'm thankful for my kids, and for each unique day I get with them, to see who they've become and who they're becoming.