Day One Hundred Forty One

I was reminded today on several fronts how difficult being a parent is.  I don't mean difficult in a negative way, I just want to acknowledge parents for the hard work involved in raising a human being.   I heard of 24 hours spent with newborn twins, lovingly helping new parents get some much needed rest.  I remembered my own twins arriving with a 5 year old already in the house and a husband who worked 24, 48 or 72 hour shifts.  I remembered the utter exhaustion.  Then a friend came by with her 13 month old son and I watched her chase him down about twenty times in ten minutes and remembered the emotional mood changes, the smiles and tears and smiles in rapid succession and the constant diligence required.  Next I listened to a story about how I forced my son to get a girly backpack when he was in the fourth grade and how much he hated it, marveling at how he could remember such things and how they could still have any importance whatsoever to him fifteen years later.  One needed my help to navigate the medical system and I made phone calls and did research, writing little post-it notes on several lab orders.  Yet another necessitated a trip to the post office to send off a birthday package that may or may not make it in time for the birthday.  *Sigh* That whole "mail on time" thing with gifts seems to elude me still.  And lastly I was reminded that even when they tower over you, drive their own car, have a girlfriend, a job and life of their own they still really, truly need you; in different ways than when they were tiny but in ways just as important.  Amazes me how the mother/child relationship is both resilient and delicate at the same time.  Hell, my 'baby' is seventeen and I'm exhausted.   So here's to parents; rock on!

These made their way onto the exit ramp today:


1.  A 10" square silver-tone tray
2.  A coffee mug
3.  A plastic bin - dishpan style
4.  A baggie full of dice
5.  A baggie full of new shoelaces


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