It’s something you hear all the time. “My kids are growing too fast!” or “they’re all big and grown up in the blink of an eye!”. While, of course, these claims are greatly exaggerated, it does feel that way. We can’t help but feel like we’ve missed out on a major portion of our child’s lives, but in reality, we’ve been there the whole time for our kids!
Throughout this adventure that you’ve had with your children, there have probably been ups and downs and there have probably been moments that you’ve been worried. During those times, you’ve probably heard them say a couple of silly things. For instance, maybe they made fun of the clothes you wore or perhaps they said they want to become an astronaut. Whether it’s talking about future dreams or grown-up topics, one thing’s for sure: they’re always growing.
But there will come a time and day where you finally realise to yourself that, one day, your child is going to leave the nest. They’re going to live on their own, with friends or with their future partner and you’ll see them a lot less. Whether it’s during a brief period such as college or university (let’s face it, leaving for a couple of months at a time isn’t that much!) or finally moving out to purchase their own home, it’s a bittersweet period. On one hand, you want to keep them and hold them tight so you can always look after them. But on the other hand, you want them to spread their wings, grow and ultimately live life for themselves.
That Moment Your Child Tells You Something You Don’t Know
When our children learn things at school, it’s usually stuff that we’ve all studied before. “Hey look! I learned my ABC's today!” or “I learned multiplication!” are the types of things they’ll say, and it’s cute and endearing to listen to. However, as much as we praise them for those simple things, we know that there’s a tough road ahead.
But when your child comes home and tells you something like “I learned the name of the German engineer that invented the first rotary engine!” or something obscure that you didn’t know, that’s when you start to realise that your kids are growing and they’re soon going to surpass you in both knowledge and wisdom.
But for now, until that time comes, shower them with your affection, praise and wisdom. Teach them things that you wish you knew when you were young, but keep this in mind; times change. A typical example of this is the acceptance of different sexual orientations in today’s society as opposed to many years ago. You see it in a lot of seniors that haven’t been exposed to the media. They feel like same-sex relationships and other similar topics are ridiculous, but modern parenting is far more accepting of these types of changes. It’s an extreme example, but it also illustrates an all-important point: times change and so must you.
When Your Child’s Furniture and Toys Cost as Much as Yours
Another “oh, my child is growing” moment that you’ll experience is when you spend just as much on your child’s furniture and toys as you do on your own interests. Buying toddler beds for boys and girls can be incredibly expensive especially if you want to give your child the best comfort you can afford when they jump in bed. Toys nowadays are fairly cheap, but when you consider that many teenagers and toddlers are walking around with smartphones and tablets, the cost of keeping your child entertained suddenly jumps up.
Instead of limiting your child’s budget to a fraction of your own, give them a bit more to play with. If you’re going to give them all the entertainment and technology they could ask for, then you should expect to pay a ludicrous sum of money for things like laptops and phones. Consider them long-term investments that your child is going to need for when they grow up and become part of society. After all, if you deny them access to computers, then what will happen when they need to do their homework or communicate over the internet with friends? The days of doing homework on physical paper might not be over, but more and more children are growing up with technology in their hands that we didn’t know would exist when we grew older.
If you feel like your child is growing too fast then don’t worry—it’s pretty natural, and you need to adjust to that fact.