No matter how grown the kids are, they will always be your precious babies.
I saw this on Facebook today and thought how true, at least for me. My sons, ages 26 and 30, think I am a royal pain. I can’t help myself; I will always be their mom. When I see them my first instinct is to offer advice, or helpful criticism: you should get a haircut, be careful driving in the rain, you should be saving more of your money, and on and on. No wonder they don’t call or stop by as often as I would like.
I know they don’t want to hear my ‘advice’, but sometimes they need to hear it. I would feel guilty if they skidded off the freeway into a ditch in the rain after leaving my house without a warning to drive safely( as if that would help). For so many years they depend on our care and guidance. At what age do we let go?
Parenting doesn’t come with a guide book, but if it did I am sure it would recommend discontinuing the unsolicited advice long before they reach my kids’ age. I am working on enjoying the time I have with my sons, but I still have to bite my tongue when the urge to criticize or offer guidance attempts to spoil our time together. I still have slip ups, but I mean well.
In defense of caring parents everywhere, I think that grown children should be respectful and consider (even if they have no intension of following the offered advice) what their older and wiser parents are saying and consider our offered advice gracefully. And I must try to accept that until they are parents themselves they will not understand that they will always be my precious babies.
In a perfect world, our kids would love us as much as they did when they were little and really needed us!
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