The Cursed Blessing of Parenting
Posted by Ben Stevens on
The one thing I can say for certain is I have experience when it comes to parenting, since I have five children. Now I have to say that even though I have five kids, I have never been a fan of babies, which I know is not popular to say. The most common response when I share is "But babies are so cute, how could you not like babies". Interestingly enough, I never get that response from people who currently have a baby in their home, more often the response then is "I get it, babies are hard". That truth I am learning though is that all stages with kids is hard.
Lisa and I are now having more freedom than we probably have ever had in our 23 years of marriage. The reason is all but two of our kids are old enough to watch the younger ones so we can go and leave the kids alone. There are times they actually want us to go away, which hurts but is quickly healed with the joy of time alone without kids. The weird thing though is emotionally and mentally we have less freedom than ever before.
I'm not sure why but I expected as my kids got older that the weight of parenting would dissipate, but the reality is my kids problems as they grow up become adult problems. While babies and young kids have their own challenges I will say that parenting older kids, even adults, is just as challenging if not more so. Watching your children go through heartache, stress, struggle and making the same dumb mistakes you made is gut wrenching.
I wouldn't trade parenting for anything as I love my kids so much that there are many sleepless nights worrying about them. We have the best times together with our kids when the fighting between them subsides for a little. I know I am biased but I have pretty great kids. They absolutely all make stupid mistakes, fight, drive me nuts, and much more, but when I see how they are with other people I see that they have kind and caring hearts. For those reasons parenting, in my mind, is both a blessing and a curse.
I'm not sure why but I expected as my kids got older that the weight of parenting would dissipate, but the reality is my kids problems as they grow up become adult problems. While babies and young kids have their own challenges I will say that parenting older kids, even adults, is just as challenging if not more so. Watching your children go through heartache, stress, struggle and making the same dumb mistakes you made is gut wrenching.
