Thankful Thursdays

For good parenting. I dedicate today’s post to parents who try like heck to support, guide, and love their kids. I had terrific parents. I owe them a hell of a lot. I didn’t always agree with or appreciate their advice and guidance, but I learned (albeit at snail pace) that their hearts were in the right place.

Fast forward, and same with our kids. We’ve tried our darnedest to provide what they’ve needed, so far, and most of what they’ve wanted (as it’s okay to say no when a no is called for; more than okay, actually). Through the years, we’ve clung to God for every ounce of wisdom prayed for and granted to help us in this parenthood journey.

Now we’re at a point where their wings have spread and the choices made are theirs alone. So we are hopeful, and stay in prayer, that we’ve done a good job. That they’ve picked up enough from us along the way (about sacrifice, responsibility, education, hard work, gratitude, faith…) to help them in their own journey. And that they see what having them has taught us: unconditional love.

So, for all parents practicing good parenting (and I know lots of them), I am thankful. Let’s keep it up, humanity’s survival, today more than ever, depends on it.

What are you thankful for today?

Until next Thursday’s post…si Dios quiere.

[Note: In case you’re not Spanglish-speaking, “si Dios quiere” means God-willing. Mom finished most of her sentences with that. I added it to my sendoff after her departure].

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
-Anne Frank

“Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands. Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God. Be a person in whom they can have faith. When you are old, nothing else you’ve done will have mattered as much.”
-L. Wingate

“Everything depends on upbringing. ”
-L. Tolstoy

“I finally had the talk with my kids. I told them
that animals in the wild eat their young so
they better get their shit together.”
-Unknown