Nothing prepares us for what it’s gonna be like when we become parents. No book or lecture gives parenting justice. For when that precious being comes to life only then are we awakened to perform the hardest job on earth… parenting. We learn to become parents first and foremost from our children and it sure is a rollercoaster ride.

Our first instincts as parents are how to keep them alive. We stress over making sure they eat right, sleep well and are warm enough all the while telling ourselves that once they can eat solids it will get easier, once they start walking it will get easier, once they enter school it will get easier but guess what, there is no easier, each phase comes with it’s own set of challenges.

Today I am a blessed mom of three teens. Sure they bathe themselves, feed themselves and are pretty independent, you’d think the hard part of parenting is over but boy with teens it’s a whole other story. With teens you get the mood swings, the talking back, the assertion of their fresh new personalities where they suddenly know more than you the parent who birthed and raised them. Suddenly we are the old fashioned ones, the clueless ones, while they develop a know-it-all attitude. What happened to when I was their superhero who they’d turn to for comfort and security? What happened to when I could lure them into listening to me by bribing them with a new toy or their favorite ice cream? It’s a bitter sweet feeling. You pine for the old days when they were still a handful, young, innocent child and you also feel proud watching them grow and gain their independence.

My eldest child is now preparing to go to college. I wish I could just sit back and relax and say finally she’s leaving the nest… but it isn’t that simple. With older kids you worry if they are making the right decisions, if they’re mixing with the right friends, if they’re able to put boundaries, if they are being bullied or not and the list goes on.

After many years I came to the realization that children teach us how to become parents and they’re the ones that allow us to learn more about ourselves. It’s naive to think that there’s one stage easier than the other, for a parents job is never truly over. You hold them in your arms and you blink and suddenly they are young adults fulfilling their wonderful destinies as you slowly learn to let go and be their parents from afar.