creating happy childhood memories
creating happy childhood memories
Honey, wake up–I have something I want to show you…
How many nights did I wake up my children to watch a lightning storm too magnificent to sleep through?
How many puddles did I not only encourage them to jump in, but even sometimes joined them?
How many blankets were slipped over shoulders as I led them out to see a bright star?
How many tiny canvases of nature did I point out as we walked along?
Yet, sometimes I wonder if they will remember those moments.
Will they remember the magic over the mothering, that required me to stand firm?
The hard times were only a page in the story
Will they remember the moments over the young mom who had to learn to control her temper, struggle through depression, deal with chronic pain?
Will they remember how in our humblest circumstances we hooked sheets to the ceiling, created a “room” for their bunk beds as our bed lay on the other side of the sheets?
With our surroundings mostly shoved into the same room because the house we just moved into was falling apart around us.
Unsafe. Unsanitary.
Will they remember that we told them how FUN it was to pretend we were camping the house and that we laughed as we tucked them in each night?
Because on the dark nights of parenting, when we can’t sleep wondering how we did, I have doubts.
If creating memories with our kids would be enough…
What will their childhood memories be?
Will they remember how through the many undesired moves we taught them life is an adventure?
That God always, always has a plan, even when things are scary. And that we always were a family, and that was enough.
Will they carry that with them?
Because on the dark nights of parenting, I wonder if it was enough. We tried so very hard, but was it enough?
As our kids enter adulthood themselves, sometimes my nerves try to shake me a bit. Questioning the things these young people will take away. All parents make mistakes, and we have certainly made our share.
But my deepest hope, my true and deepest hope, is that they’ll remember the lightning. The puddles. The spirit of wonder and adventure. That time will soften the harder edges of our mistakes.
That they’ll leave home having felt safe. Loved. That they’ll know how much we invested into learning to parent the best we could.
Most of all, that they’ll remember how we told them that family is enough.
That home is always going to be a sanctuary for them. And that God always, always has a plan. Even when things get scary.
P.S. Need some great resources for this journey? Check these out
- Memory Making Mom
- The Lifegiving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming ( Sally Clarkson is SO encouraging)
- Awaking Wonder
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