Saturday, May 24, 2008

Markers of the passage of time

Pardon the flurry of posting the past few days!
We have received invitations to the graduations of both of the flower girls in our wedding from high school recently. They were about L's age at time of our wedding...

They are both beautiful young women now! I know our own little ones are going to be in that same situation in the blink of an eye!

I've been reading through Romancing Your Child's Heart. Nothing too striking, but a reminder to try and "play" a little more. To not always say "no" or "not right now" when asked to come look at something or do something with them. (A week or so ago, they asked me to come play whiffle ball with them in the backyard and I said "no." Still feeling remorse over that. That moment with all three of them enjoying the sun and doing something we've never done together is gone. Trying not to miss those so much.) I'm not a natural "play-er" type of parent (come to think of it, I wasn't that much of a "play-er" type of kid - more into reading or making things) so it takes a conscious act of sacrifice/selflessness to really engage with them, especially in "play." On the other hand, I still wonder if that is God's design for parents. Up until the past 100 years or so, parents didn't seem to really have time to play with their kids. Life itself demanded too much time and energy, and the kids were usually more involved in contributing to maintaining the household with less time for play as well. Not that it isn't good and important to do so, but sometimes I think that both the children and the parents come to see it as something that HAS to be - a right - and yet I think it is perhaps more of a privilege or blessing when there is time to play together.

Oh, this turned into a philosophical discourse! And reminded me of another one I will write soon on the topic of "should."

1 comment:

  1. How neat that you're invited to the graduations!

    I've gone back and forth in my mind with the old times vs. now discussions... But it's a moot point for me now. My "baby" is 12 so I try to play as much as I can since I know there's not much play time left... =/

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