Hubby sent this to me the other day. Author unknown.
Pencil: I'm sorry
Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.
Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.
Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.
I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational. Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes. Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller / older, and eventually pass on. Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.
All my life, I've been the pencil. And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day. For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have.
This is to all the parents out there. Be nice, because your kids choose which nursing home you go to!As a parent, there are ups and downs in parenting, as with everything else in life. It's not all a bed of roses, but at the end of the day, we still love our children more than our hearts can muster.
My friends comment that obviously Kai must be a good child, otherwise how can I take him on holidays and do everything with him and still not complain. But sometimes, it's not what I dont feel, it's what I dont show. I choose to be optimistic and not sweat the small stuff.
What my friends dont see is my cynical Mom, who has always taken a different stand on child-rearing, "diagnosing" my son with Autism, ADHD, and how she says she'll use the cane on him if she's his caregiver because she thinks Kai cannot sit still for even one minute. Hubby & I, on the other hand, do not practice corporal punishment because we believe that there must be a better way to nurture your own child other than to instill fear.
But to begin with, I have never been that close to my Mom because since young, my Grandma and Aunty LY took care of me & my brothers, and now, Aunty LY is continuing to take care of Kai whenever she can. But I digress. This post is not about my own life story.
What other people do not see are my struggles as a parent, disciplining is just one of them.
However, with good faith and love, we are thankful for getting by each and every day.
Hubby is the stronger of us both.
He reminds me to believe in our son and he is one man who truly sees the beauty in parenthood, accepting all the bad as well as the good. For that, I thank God for letting me marry such a good man.
I look at our son everyday and thank God for blessing us with a healthy and beautiful child. I wish nothing more than for him to grow into a beautiful person, both inside and out.
