PARENTS GROW, TOO

The growth and evolution of parents in multi-children families is quite interesting, remarkable, and at times down right humorous. Let me explain.

If an honest confession is good for the soul, then I'll take my turn in the tank.

Take pictures of our three children. Matt was born in 1964 and over the next four years, Martha and I made rolls of home movies of that little guy. I spliced them together and in our collection is at least two solid hours of Matt-- just Matt. Born four years later, we also made home movies of Leanne, but that reel is at best 45 minutes long. Chad came along four years later and we made a couple of snapshots of him with a box camera!

Take illnesses. If Matt had the sniffles, we called the pediatrician. If Leanne had 102 fever, we gave her a cool bath and a baby aspirin and rocked her to sleep. If Chad swallowed a quarter, I took it out of his allowance!

Now, of course, you know none of the above is totally true but it does have an element of truth in it-- as parents grow with the process of parenting they become much more reasonable, relaxed, and confident.

So, to all you young parents, stay cool, it'll be alright. To all you older parents, tell those younger parents that what I've just said is true.