Delightful Children

New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Discipline your children; you'll be glad you did - 

they'll turn out delightful to live with.

Proverbs 29:17

My middle daughter is in the midst of securing a Master's degree in Statistics, of all things, and decided to move back here from the East Coast in order to make life a little easier on herself.  She is self-employed as a mathematics tutor, and tutoring in the Washington D.C. area involves commuting far and wide, racking up endless miles on her poor Corolla, which already has 230,000+ on it.  As a temporary stop-gap, she moved into the piano room at one end of my house, finishing up the summer semester and saving money toward moving into her own place in the fall.

Your children change so much over the years.  They grow, they mature, they make mistakes, they exhibit good judgment and then bad judgment, they experience heartbreak, they find love, they get their hearts broken, and then mended again.  Not one of my three girls lives her life the way I might do it if I were in their shoes, but I'm not them, they are not me, and they are succeeding at living beyond my wildest dreams.  Each in her own way is truly delightful - a joy for their mother to love and know.

There were times when the girls were growing up that I was too hard on them.  At other times, I was not hard enough.  I was not a perfect parent - they were not perfect children.  The goal of a family is not perfection, however - it is growth, support, and unconditional love.  Whether they are here with me or off living life on their own, I treasure every moment I have with them.