I Wish I Had Supportive Parents Like This [ga]

As I get older I value the advice my parents give me more, and I'm glad to have them around.

I have a 9-year old. I've found that the old adage is true: a big part of parenting is just being present.

What the adage doesn't say is that "being present" means more than just being in the room with your kid. It means being aware of the things your kid is into, and interacting with them about those things, and just generally being interested and engaged in their life.

Thanks for the giveaway and the screenshot.

Haven't seen you around much, hope you are doing okay in these crazy times.

Isn't only fans a website mainly used to sell pornography*? Parental investigation on that doesn't seem parenting.

And I'll do a bump.

here's my Bump!

Jokes aside, there are some things that should be said about parenthood.

Being a parent is the hardest thing that I have ever done and I believe that it gets harder as time goes by as individualism becomes more rewarded in culture and generally. I have gone through periods of watching rebellious teenagers become grateful adults. A few things to keep in mind:

1. As children grow they begin to see the wisdom of their parents more. Parents joke how remarkable it is that the parents get smarter as their kids enter their 20's. The truth of course is that the real change is in the growing perspective of the children

2. Another addage: Children blame their parents. Adults blame themselves. This is more wisdom about perspective.

3. and lastly, in my humble opinion, as a parent of 2 functioning adults, the views of non-parents mean very little in any discussion of parenthood. In this category I place childless children as well as claimed experts in the field who are childless.

I realize that many may disagree, but in almost any scenario where a parent is present in any form, they chose the well being of their children over their own. If this seems hard to believe, then consider that this is part of many reasons why successive generations of adults have less children, if any. It makes sense to me that people who are not able to appreciate their parents and forgive them, would not expect their children to have any for them. We the parents, though, saw much of this for many years and yet chose to believe in ourselves and our kids. It's harder than you think.

If you have a parent, hug them and tell them 'thank you'. Everything they did for you after you turned 16 (and I could argue even before that) was voluntary.

Nice to see you again. Hope you stick around!

Our teacher told us : ,, You can't judge your parents, they didn't receive a manual when you are born which explains how they should raise you, what they should do." Maybe she is right, maybe she is wrong, can't judge when I am not a parent yet. I saw many thinks, different type of parenthood. In the end we are humans with good and bad, it up to us to decide if we want to remain in the circle or destroy it.

Bump

bump!

Bump!

bump!

i can tell that regarding that, i'm the luckiest person alive, my parents despite being divorced since i'm 3 or so, are still the best parents ever, they remained friends and both took great interest in me, despite their busy lives they managed to pass all of their values to me, and i believe that all i am is all thanks to them, and i truly appreciate them for that, i'm 26 btw.

Bumpo

Good to see you back. I hope the downtime helped you and that you're doing ok