Keep Track of The Good Days

In the hustle and bustle and chaos of being a parent, we need to always remember to keep track of the good days ... and there are plenty. We make it through the sleepless nights when they're infants and teething, as well as the sleepless nights as they grow up and are out late with the family car. We go through their hurts of scraped knees, sadness of broken friendships, and anxieties with college life and relocations. It's what we signed up for but that doesn't always make it easy. We never want to see our children stressed or anxious or unhappy. Their feelings and our own often merge together as one, but if we've done our job right as parents they'll be o.k. as will we.

Then a week or a day goes by and we get to watch them walk across a stage as they graduate and  begin the next chapter in their lives. We get to watch them perform on a stage at Orchestra Hall or attend  their wedding. We can stand back and watch them push themselves in a bike race and smile and laugh as they play the guitar in the pep band at a college basketball game. Will we always worry? You bet we will. Will we miss them when they've gone off to pursue a new job or adventure? Absolutely. But we will always make sure they still have a key to the house and a bed to sleep in whenever they choose to visit and we will visit them as well.

For me this weekend was a good one. I had my family nearby; we laughed, we sang John Denver tunes in the car, we ate WAY too much bacon during breakfast, and we all hugged before our cars drove off in different directions.

Keep track of the good days and make plans for the many to come. It's what gives us, as parents, the foundation and strength to get through the days when they're not around. What happened during your most recent 'good day'?