Thought for the Day 8/12/2022

 Friday Tale - "You Don't Love me!" 

How many times have your kids laid that one on you?

And how many times have you, as a parent, resisted the urge tell them how much?

Someday, when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I’ll tell them.

·     I loved you enough to bug you about where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home.

·     I loved you enough to insist you buy a bike with your own money that you could afford.

·     I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your friend was a creep.

·     I loved you enough to make you return a Milky Way with a bite out of it to a drugstore and confess, “I stole this.”

·     I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that would have taken me fifteen minutes.

·     I loved you enough to say, “Yes, you can go to Disney World on Mother’s Day.”

·     I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, disgust and tears in my eyes.

·     I loved you enough not to make excuses for your lack of respect or for your bad manners.

·     I loved you enough to admit that I was wrong and ask for your forgiveness.

·     I loved you enough to ignore what every other mother did or said.

·     I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall, hurt, and fail.

·     I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your own actions at age six, ten or sixteen.

·     I loved you enough to figure you would lie about the party being chaperoned, but forgave you for it - after discovering I was right.

·     I loved you enough to accept you for what you are, not what I wanted you to be.

BUT most of all, I loved you enough to say no when you hated me for it.  That was the hardest part of all.
~ Erma Bombeck 

Discipline your children, and they will give you peace;
they will bring you the delights you desire.
~ Proverbs 29:17 (NIV)