Kids, You Can't Beat Them...

Admit it, you thought this blog was going to be about spanking, didn't you? Well it's not. Although...

Just kidding. I realized I had written about the challenges and frustrations of parenting on several occasions and I felt like it I needed to write about the joys and rewards of being a parent for a change. (I do reserve the right to complain about my kids as early as tomorrow should they do something that warrants such a blog.)

Being a parent is tough. You have to deal with unreasonable people who argue, are impatient, and have no sense of logic, (and that's just dealing with your spouse!). Children wet the bed at 4 am. They get sick. They, with the intellect and life experiences of a 7 year old, think they know better than their 30 something year old parents, (I'm told this gets worse during adolescence). Children sin, a lot. They get angry, selfish, prideful, disrespectful, and outright defiant. They take away your sleep, wear you out, drain your wallet, and greatly affect your social life. Being a parent is the hardest thing I have ever done.

That being said...

- You can't beat the feeling of holding your little baby boy or girl in your arms while they're sleeping.
- You can't beat watching your child learn how to roll over, crawl, or walk for the first time.
- You can't beat seeing the wonder on a baby's face as they experience lights, noises, food, toys, smells, and life in general for the first time.
- You can't beat being with your child as they experience ice cream for the first time.
- Disney World is an entirely new and wonderful experience when you take children with you. I hate the "It's a Small World" ride with a holy passion, but I rode that silly ride with my daughter because she thought it was the coolest thing she'd ever done. I didn't enjoy the ride, (it's quite frightening), but I enjoyed watching her ride it.

- There's a certain age when your children fit perfectly in your arms. For my kids it was between two and three years old. It was if God gave you a perfect little teddy bear that is warm, soft, and cuddly that fits into your arms like a key in a lock. It's an incredibly wonderful and tender feeling. I wouldn't give that time up for a year's worth of sleep filled nights.
- When my seven year old, Lillian, was about two or so, she was just learning to run. The problem was that her arms were trying to figure out how to run in time with her legs. The result was technically "running", but was a herky-jerky run where arms and legs were flying in every which direction and we had no idea how she didn't fall flat on her face. I can still recreate the "run" if I want to. Memories like that are worth getting up to clean a pee filled bed.
- My kids, when they are not arguing in the backseat of the van, will sing songs. They will sing praise songs, Christmas songs, whatever. It's a taste of heaven to hear those little voices from the backseat. It's worth having a mini-van with french fries and raisins all over the floor just to hear those kids sing.

- My four year old is one of a kind. There is no other word to describe her than just "Annie", (which is her name obviously). She marches to the beat of the rhythm in her own mind. One day, while walking through church with my wife, she promptly did a cartwheel, stood up, and just kept on walking. She really didn't care who was looking or how they felt about her gymnastics. She just felt like doing it and that's all that mattered. Earlier this week, for no particular reason, at Annie decided to run down the aisle at Wal-Mart and slide on her knees next to the Pop-Tarts. Then she got up and just kept going. That's just how Annie rolls. I could tell you a thousand stories about Annie that all pretty much share the same theme. The laughter and joy we get out of watching our kids can't compare with a thousand date nights without them.
- My son likes to mow the lawn with me. He has his own tiny little toy lawnmower and he walks behind me with it whenever I cut the grass. He loves being with his dad doing guy stuff. He also loves trucks and motorcycles. Anytime we see one while driving around he screams out, "BIG TRUCK! BIG TRUCK, MOTORCYCLE, MOTORCYCLE!" until we acknowledge that yes indeed, that is a big truck, etc. There's so much about him that is just "boy" that is so different than my girls. It's awesome to experience the difference between the sexes, even on a two year old scale.

I could go on and on and I would still miss out on so many stories, events, and life experiences that my wife and I have had with our kids. Some of it is explainable. Some of it is not; you just have to experience it to know what I'm talking about. In the good moments there is something magical and transcendent about being a parent and watching your kids grow up. That may sound weird to say, but it's true. God gives you these little moments as a parent that make you say, "This is all worth it." Yes, they wet the bed. Yes, they rack up medical bills. Yes, they break and will break your heart. Yes, they are little sinners and will drive you crazy with their selfishness, anger, and disrespect at times. Yes, there are so many little and big things that drive you up the wall, drive out your money, and take away your sleep. Even so, I wouldn't give up my kids and the memories that come with them for anything in the world. So while I can honestly and humorously talk about "these brain damaged people" (Cosby), I can also say that they are treasures given to me by God.

So you can't beat having kids...but they may indeed deserve a spanking from time to time. :)