I've been giving this some thought, what is it about grandchildren? I think it's because you have all the delight and joy and love that you have with your own children...but someone else is ultimately responsible.
My hope is that I will be a force for good in my grandchildren's lives. That I will be a good example and another voice affirming what their parents are trying to teach them. However the responsibility is squarely on my children's shoulders, not mine.
That said all that is left is the good parts. It is such a joy, such a happy fulfillment for me to see Dani all grown up and being an excellent mom. She's a better mom than I was, careful and structured and thoughtful. Tate is a lucky girl. Her parents are goodly parents. It will be wonderful to see her grow. It's nice to watch and measure my own job at parenting. I must have done okay because she is a lovely young woman and lives the values and principles I tried to teach her and show her. You do your best, and frankly you know that it is not "good enough" and then you pray that it is "good enough"...and then do we ever know? Kids have free agency and we love them when they are being good and when they are being bad. Ultimately Heavenly Father's greatest gift to his children, well top three greatest, is our free will. Our own will is really the only thing we have to give back to Him, that isn't already His. That is why our obedience to His commandments is so important, it's the only way we have to show Him that we love Him and want to be with Him again. Anyway, with that comes our opportunity to parent children who similarly have free agency and can and do choose for themselves how they want to be, how they want to live their lives. All we can do is teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves (at some point).
Enough thinking :)
No comments:
Post a Comment