This year, I got to write an article about baby and child dedication in my church tradition. Tomorrow, in many churches, there will be a connection between baby dedication and Mother’s Day.
Tag: parenting
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Mom’s to do List Cartoon
What parent hasn’t had to deal with a to-do list a mile long? My wife has always been a go-getter. Undoubtedly, she inspired this mom’s to do list cartoon
As amazing as it may seem, there is a cure for the super busy parent. It takes intentionality and discipline. But it is possible. The big challenge is learning to say no when the world seems to be asking us for the moon… and then some!
If the last two years have taught us anything, we have learned that the best-laid plans never go as planned. There are circumstances and surprises that come out of nowhere. In fact, we may be tempted to utter along with Curly, “I’m a victim of circumstance!“
Children and the Best-laid Plans
I thought I had life all figured out until I had children. Planning was easy when my wife and I started our lives together. For the most part, we were on the same page and had similar goals. But when we had kids, I discovered they didn’t always share the same goals like when was the proper bedtime, how to behave at restaurants, and when was the optimal time to begin potty training.
Ah! If only we could always see Christmas through the eyes of a child! I can relate to Erma Bombeck’s quote.
“There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.”
Erma Bombeck
Erma Bombeck Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2021. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/erma_bombeck_124420, accessed December 18, 2021.
When we were children, Christmas was always a magical time of the year. We had big wishes for amazing toys. Many of us reasoned if we just got our act together between Thanksgiving and Christmas, hopefully, Santa wouldn’t notice our behavior the other eleven months of the year.
Then we grew up. Some of us got naughty while others remained nice. It seemed to be so easy for those made of sugar, spice, and everything nice.
Christmas morning is a little different when you are grown up and spent the night before deciphering assembly instructions, written in questionable English. Many a Christmas Eve, early Christmas morning, I would be squinting in the low light while the TV proclaimed midnight mass from the Vatican. It made it very difficult to get mad and throw things when the Pope was blessing everything and everyone.
Now, not only am I grown up, but so are my kids. And there aren’t any grandchildren yet. It feels like a bit of a Christmas desert these days. There are no toys under the tree. Instead, there is a surely cat (she’s not a Christmas present. She just likes to lay under there and chew fake pine needles). And this year, there won’t be excited kids getting us up to announce the obvious; that it’s Christmas morning.
Is it as sad as Erma Bombeck proclaimed? Perhaps not. I still have a very nice, beautiful wife that just oozes Christmas spirit. She knows just what I need, even though I had no clue. Who would’ve thought I was out of tube socks anyway? I sure didn’t!
My hope for you is that if you have young children, it will be a wonderful magical Christmas for you this year. If not, may you be able to reach back into time, reminisce about a few Christmases long ago, and see it through the eyes of a child. I think that’s what I’ll be doing with my sugar and spice wife.
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Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
On my run the other day, I listened to the song, Glory Days, by Bruce Springsteen. As the years go by, it becomes more ironic. It was on the album, Born in the USA. The song came out in 1985 when I was twenty years old. At the time, it felt like a fool’s errand to reminisce about the past at the expense of the present. Thirty-six years later, I can understand a little better where the song was coming from!
Yet, the wisdom of this verse still stands true. There is a season and a time for every purpose. I had a great college experience. But it would be unfortunate to stay there. It’s great to visit for homecoming. But who wants an old guy staying around campus because he just can’t get the courage to leave?
I loved being a dad to two little kids. But today I have two great adult children. I would be foolish to wish they were younger and treat them as little kids. The early days were great. The present is even better, though it looks different.
It’s foolish to live in the past. It is equally foolish to live only in the future. Yes, the last eighteen months have been brutal for everyone. We have all heard people pining for the future when everything will be back to normal. But what if the present has the opportunities that make your future possible? What if normal never was ideal? We are never guaranteed a future. We just have today.
There were good things about the past. And I believe the future also has promise. But we just have today. Whatever season you are in, live in the moment. It may be a challenging time. You may have problems I can’t imagine. Or you may find a few years from now, today is the day you will remember as the best of times. Say, that reminds me of another rock song!