Pushing the Little Birds Off the Branch

When I was raising my four children I was often frustrated by how messy they were. Even though they each had their own bedrooms, they often left their stuff all over the house. And they were noisy. And always hungry. Honestly, there were days when I couldn’t wait until they were all out on their own.

And then, of course, it happened. I wasn’t so crazy about the idea then. I missed my children desperately as I banged around in my big empty house, especially since there wasn’t a husband or boyfriend to occupy my time. The house was too quiet. Too clean. Nobody ate the huge amount of granola I made every month. Or the raisin bran muffins.

One day a friend sent me this bit of philosophy:

If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back, it will always be yours.
If it doesn’t come back, it was never yours to begin with.
But…
If it just sits in your living room,
Messes up your stuff, eats your food,
uses your telephone, takes your money
And doesn’t appear to realize that you had set it free…
…you either married it or gave birth to it.Author unknown

I had a good laugh, then began to think. None of my children had come back home to live once they graduated from college. Until that funny little ditty came my way I hadn’t even thought about how fortunate I was that my children had all become responsible adults on their own, supporting themselves and their families.

The best part is that all four of them now have children of their own who mess up their stuff, eat their food, use their phone, take their money…

Ah, the circle of life. It’s positively delicious, isn’t it?

Perhaps today you can type up a small sign that says, “A good parent is one who makes leaning on unnecessary” and give it to your teenage children with a hug and a reminder that you will always love them but their job is to stand on their own two feet.