Monday, October 17, 2011

Please Promise To - What We Provide Them With Today May Brighten The Path To Our Promises

Newborn
Mother - I promise to give you all the love and care you will ever need and more. 
Age 2
Mother - I promise you’ll have a great big grassy yard to play in.
Child – Please promise to spend quality time with me, whether it’s inside at home or outside at the park.    
Age 3 
Mother - I promise I’ll give you a little sister or brother.
Child – Please promise to have me socialize with other children my age and not just sit me in front of the television all day.      
Age 5
Mother - I promise you I’ll send you to the best school.
Child – Please promise to spend one-on-one time with me after school helping me with my homework and teaching me all that you know.
Age 10
Mother - I promise I’ll take you to Disney World.
Child – Please promise to really listen to me, support my interests and let me explore my independence.
Age 13
Mother - I promise I’ll buy you all the right clothes.
Child – Please promise to teach me to be confident in myself, no matter what I’m wearing.
Age 16
Mother - I promise I’ll buy you a car.
Child – Please promise to teach me how to save money and earn the things that I want to have.
Age 18
Mother - I promise I’ll send you to the University of your choosing.
Child – Please promise to carve a path for me to do well in school so I may earn scholarships to get me through college.
             
Mothers make a simple promise to their newborn - to love them and care for them, no matter what it takes.  It doesn’t take long, however, for more complicated hopes and dreams to take focus in our mind.  Yet, with unexpected economic heartbreak, career detours, and everyday challenges that life is sure to deliver-and does; some of the promises we make to our children may feel like illusions.
It is through our disappointments we must realize that if we’re providing our kids with the essentials of love and security, they will survive.  More than likely, if we are the type of mothers that even have these worries; these children will thrive.  Isn’t it true that what we’re already providing them is all they really need?
We can get so hung up on giving them all the bells and whistles- the best schools, mind-blowing vacations and the trendiest clothes, but what really matters are the simple times you spend with them and enjoying each moment in our today.

1 comment:

Shell said...

That last paragraph is SO TRUE. Easy to lose focus of what is really important!