One of the hardest parts about being a parent is seeing your children in pain. Not just physical pain, but emotional pain. Seeing the hurt expressions on their little faces if they have been teased or excluded. Wanting them to go through life and only be happy, but knowing this is impossible. That is why this blog post about the ups and downs of her daughter’s friendships, by Mina McKiernan, resonated so personally with me.
I, on the other hand, am not sure I can handle the emotional side of second grade. Give me the angst of my kindergardener having to pick what to take for show-and-tell over this stuff, any day. I’ll take the petty playground tiffs over who cut the line for the monkey bars, but not the emotional agony.
The worst part is that I know that this is the tip of the iceberg. I want to make everything right for her, all the time. Of course, that’s not only impossible, but also not what’s best for her. So, all I can do is stand close by (but not too close), love her, support her and try my best to help her as she works through these changes and learns life’s lessons.
Here’s to knowing that a little rain in our children’s lives makes the rainbows all the more beautiful.