All Too Often

All too often, as an adult, we forget. We forget that it's not always about the clothes, the food, or the discipline (although these are all very important). Sometimes we forget. We forget that it's difficult for a child to approach us with something that they know we will not want to hear. We forget the courage that it takes for a child to tell us his/her first crush, or that someone is bullying them at school. We forget the energy it takes for a child to hand us the remote because we called them from across the house even though the remote was sitting at our feet. We forget that just because a teacher doesn't call us to say our child is misbehaving that doesn't mean we shouldn't call to see how well he/she is doing.

All too often, as an adult, we forget. We forget that our child is at risk to getting jumped on his/her way home from school because they are wearing the latest fashion. We forget that our child will get pregnant or get someone pregnant, even when the timing seems completely off. We forget that God answers prayers when we are consistent in going to him more so than when we call on him after everyone else seems to have failed in helping. We forget that our child will have goals that he/she may not reach and even though we think we can protect them from that, we can't. We forget that our children will grow up one day and walk out of our house with the possibility of never looking back.  We forget that he/she has fears that we may never understand because things are not the same as they were before.

All too often, as an adult, we forget. We forget that in out tangents of screaming, it was our child that asked to speak in the first place. We forget that the broken glass our teenage threw out of anger can be cleaned up and gone as if it never happened. We forget that our preteens are like sponges and the things and we say and do around them can have life long effects. We forget that we once were kids and we know how it felt and how hard it was. We forget that we are imperfect and even though we want our child to believe we are superwoman, we are not. We forget to admit that we make mistakes too and can relate to the many mishaps he/she has and possibly will have.

All too often, as an adult, we forget. Amongst everything else that goes on in our adult lives, we mustn't forget three things. We mustn't forget to listen to them. We mustn't forget to love them. We mustn't forget to forgive them. These three things, no matter what the issue is, are sure ways to help alleviate any and every ache and pain. All too often, as an adult, we forget.

And all we can hope is that they don't forget us.