Parenting: I Feel Guilty
I feel guilty.
As a Mom, I do feel guilty every now and then.
Guilty for not being able to spend time with my youngest as much as she would want to.
I mean, deep inside I know I spent so much more time with the other 2 kids when they were younger, back in Singapore.
But, things are different in Jakarta.
Though I am WITH the kids at home, I also have work to do, classes to teach, housework, etc. … and too often, I have too little energy left to play tickles, read long books, or paint WITH the youngest in the family.
“Excuses!”, some may say.
Well, whatever others may say, I know I feel bad for not being able to spend more time with the youngest.
I know she longs for more, … more than daily big hugs and cuddles, more than me reading Aesop fables for her, more than just “being together” at home.
…
And so today, we “finally” did something together.
We created a drawing (pointillism) using watercolour and cotton swabs.
It was a simple activity.But I guess, it was something she treasured.
“How do you know?”, some may ask.
Because the first thing she said when we prayed together tonight was,
“Thank you God because Mommy and I could paint together earlier today.”
Moms and Dads,
We have less and less time with our little ones as they grow older.
Let’s cherish what we have, and spend time together, doing things together.
Because memories are to be created, and relationships are to be built and nurtured, intentionally, since they’re young.
…
A self reminder.
And hopefully, food for thought for you.
May God help us all in our daily struggles to be the kind of parents God wants us to be.
…
PS: Did this one activity make me feel like I’ve spent “enough” time with my youngest? Far from it. I still need to work on my time management, juggling my time and energy better so that I can spend time with EACH KID while juggling other responsibilities (I need to get rid of “daily time wasters”). May God help me.