Love Child

Do you ever look at your child, I mean really look at him or her and think to yourself, “Wow, here is an amazing small human being in my care”? Of course you do, you’re a parent.
I have been given the amazing responsibility to care for these human beings to the best of my ability for at least 18 years and, and if I’ve done my job well, they will head off and live their lives, being responsible for their own accomplishments and challenges.

Sounds dreamy right? Well, that is my ideal parenting thought and the truth is I have a lot of thoughts about whether or not I am doing the right thing for my kids much of the time. Divorce was not part of my dreamy plan when I had children, nor was the loss of their father when they were 9 and 12. None of that is what I thought would happen. Never in my worst nightmare would I have thought my children would have to deal with the loss of their father at such a young age. It was horrible.

The one thing I remember much of the time through the struggle of parenting actually came from a business atto
ey that I worked with during my divorce; he said that he and his wife had gone through a divorce and his kids were grown and doing fine….”they just need to know they are loved.” I believed him.
This doesn’t mean that they don’t feel the loss of divorced parents, especially when we didn’t behave very maturely through the process, and this doesn’t mean they don’t feel the huge loss of not having their Dad with them – it does, however, mean that filling that loss with love can create a healthy healing for them.
Filling them with love can keep them from seeking it outwardly through drugs, alcohol, bad relationships, food etc. It’s not guaranteed but if they know they are loved they don’t have to try to fill that space with something else. They will KNOW they are enough. If they know there are enough, that is enough for me.
So next time you look at your child, I mean really look at your child, know it is your love they want and you get the awesome privilege of giving it to them!!