Contrary to the popular opinion of most parents, I am very thankful my kids are growing up.
Some many months ago when my wife and I were traveling, we had a chance to watch a family with their young children at the airport. I was reminded of the family trips we took just a few short years ago – pushing strollers, hauling large amounts of baby gear through airports, installing car seats in rental cars and making sure hotel rooms had cribs or pack ‘n’ plays available. Now when we travel, our kids wheel their own suitcases through the airport. Heck, my wife and I even have even given them their own row on the airplane while we sit across the aisle.
Seeing this airport family got me thinking: What else do I no longer have to do now that my own children are older? Well, now that we no longer have babies, it’s been years since I’ve changed a diaper in the trunk of my car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. I can now also see and retrieve the food in our freezer since it no longer houses hundreds of ounces of frozen breastmilk.
Now that our children all ride bikes, I was finally able to donate the bike trailer that I used to pull them around in for years and years. This is no small thing because that bike trailer seemed to weigh about two hundred pounds when the kids were in it and I made me feel like I was pulling a parachute behind me while a hurricane wind blew against us.
So next time someone asks you if you are sad that your children are growing up, think before you respond. Your answer just may surprise you.
A version of this first appeared on Indy’s Child. Photo by marktrash on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
Leave a Reply