Knowing What's Important

In just over a week my little guy is going to turn 5.  

My gosh!  

Where has the time gone?!

The Pizzmeister can't be five yet because I swear I can remember holding him for the first time like it was yesterday.  I was so proud that I was crying unabashedly.

He was just so perfect, sweet, and innocent. I couldn't fathom the idea that any part of me could have possibly contributed to the making of such a creature.

Of course, all us parent types think our little ones are just little images of perfection, and it took me having my own child to realize that we are all right.

Our children do start off as perfect as they are going to get, then we systematically screw them up with our good intentions.

Some of us do this by preparing our children for the harsh realities of life right away and try our hardest to toughen them up. Some of us hide the world from our children and let them believe the worst thing that could ever happen in their lives is a broken toy.  Some of us try to do both.  Some us don't know what we are doing, but we are doing the best we can.

We, everyone of us parents, work hard in our own way to provide for our children, hoping to give them all they could ever want or need and give them as many opportunities as possible.  

We do this because we want them to have everything.

And, sometimes, we get so caught up in this giving of stuff, that we forget to give our children what they want most, us, and there is only a short window of time when it is us they want most.  

Don't squander that time.  

If there is anything I have learned these past five years, it's that life is fast.  It goes by quickly, and if you are not careful you miss a lot and then wonder where the time went.

These moments are important reminders for us to stop, give our children all the hugs we can, and make sure that if nothing else they know how much we love them because it would be really heart breaking if they ever questioned that, even for just an instant, at any point in their lives. 

And, it's not enough to just show them you love them.  You have to tell them too and tell them often.