Any parent knows the highs and lows of parenting are vast and varied. There are those wonderful moments when you want to buy a billboard proclaiming your kid's most recent achievement and then there those other times.
Today's one of those "other" times.
I came home from an afternoon get-together with friends to find Chance in a funk. It seems that Dad had the temerity to tell him he needed to take a break from playing a Wii game. *big sigh* I offered to read a favorite book to him to help get him out of his funk but he was having none of it.
As I sat in his room trying to explain to him why Dad was being so "mean" I got another one of those glimpses into my own upbringing. I was talking to Chance about having to say no sometimes and I could sense what it was like for my parents (who it felt like said no all the time). I finally understood how difficult it must have been for them to tell me no...whether it was something big or little, it's never easy to say no when it's something that your child really wants.
I know this time it was something minor and that there are much bigger things on the horizon. I know it's only going to get more difficult and complicated with every passing year. I know we'll need to stand firm if we want our kids to be the kind of people we want them to become. I know some of it is going to suck. I know someday they will understand when they have kids of their own. But I also know that it's going to be a long haul between Point A and Point B.
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