The pain of being a parent...

Being a parent is great joy. I feel for those who have the desire but for some reason are not able to have children. A very dear friend of mine recently had the joy recognized after a long (about seven years) battle. I tried to be there for her, and I hope that I was able to give her some comfort during that time. I share in her joy today, even though it is mostly through reading her blog. I wish I could see her more, but the hundreds of miles between us are hard to cross very often. I am digressing from the point.

Being a parent is great joy, but at times it is very painfull. My children are still young, so I know I will still have more pain ahead, but I will address that when it comes. Today I want to discuss an incedent that occured recently. My son has never really wanted for anything. He may have had to wait a few days or weeks on occasions, but he has mostly gotten what he wanted. Our daughter has experienced the same comforts, although she isn't quite old enough to be able to communicate what she wants other than baby dolls. (I am sick of baby dolls and refuse to buy more.)

A part of getting most of what you want, comes a feeling of entitlement to getting their way also. My son has gotten pretty bad about doing what he is told, especially if his mother is the one who told him to do it. Last night he was driving me crazy. Not doing what he was told. Finally, I sent him to bed, although he still had half of his milkshake from dinner sitting in-front-of him.

It was very sad for me because he was excited about that milkshake, but it had to be done. Did it cause physical pain? No, but it is sad to see your child run up the stairs crying because he can't finish his milkshake. Our daughter was all too happy to have to go to bed. She loves going to bed, but our son hates it.

Discipline is something that I have to do a lot and it is hard. It is necessary for children to grow up with rules and that those rules are enforced. I was raised with discipline and I turned out fine. That is just the pain of being a parent.