She had a half-day of school, so we took a walk. I learned a
lot as we walked, she talked, and I listened.
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| Image courtesy of Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
I wish I could tell you when my older children had a
half-day that I walked with them and listened too. But I can’t remember any
specific walks—true confessions from a mother parenting for the second time
around. Some of my children have grown up. So have I.
Now mid-life has given me a few more kids. I am parenting
the children of another. I’ve had some time to examine some of my moma failures and
successes. And, yes, there are some things I want to change, like time.
There is nothing like time-spent in developing a
relationship with someone, to truly know and be known. Relationships take time.
Yet life is busy.
Perhaps you have to work from nine to five or from three to
eleven, or from eleven to seven. You have to provide. Food and clothing are
necessities. I get that. No condemnation here.
But two things I’m convinced of, after nearly twenty-six
years of parenting, are that time spent listening to a child is never wasted
and that the only way to have a relationship with a child is to spend time.
Children who are in a
relationship with their parents, one where they are known and heard, are less
likely to be targeted by a pedophile. Those who chose to violate children like
lonely kids. Yes, food and clothing are necessities, but relationships are too.
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