June 24, 2013
Parenting is for the Birds (and Young People)

Watching a mother robin and her fledgling youngster in the yard the other morning got me to thinking, as usual. It really doesn't take much to spark a thought in my mind and that often leads to another, and another and yet one more.

That young mama was hopping across the lawn with her head turned to the ground seeking sustenance for her little one, who trailed beside her helplessly with its beak opening eagerly whenever mama would score a worm or other tidbit.

I couldn't help but marvel at how young mother-Robin appeared to be.  Probably only a child herself just last year, I figured.  And she was working so hard to feed her seemingly helpless baby.

So it goes.  Parenting is for young folks indeed.

That's what I've been thinking lately whenever I see an active tot running amok with a harried mother tailing not far behind.  Or a brand new parent toting a precious package with them - serenely sleeping in its carseat but just wait, I think, until she wakes up hungry and needing a diaper change.

When I was a young mother, I'm not sure what exactly kept me rising every morning to face yet another day of parenting responsibilities.  Or how I jolted wide awake in the wee hours of the morning to deal with a child's frightmare.  How did I endured the pain of seeing my child sick or injured or hurting in some way. Where did I get the stamina to do everything that needed to be done?

Somehow I found the strength.

I'm told that you never stop being a parent.  That's a comforting thought, I suppose.  I think I'll pass it along to feathered Ms. R. whom I'm sure can't wait for the day to fly out of her nest to the highest tree top.  There I'll bet that she'll sing to her heart's delight as she watches her fledgling find its own worms far down below on the lawn.

That day will come soon enough, but for now, she must be a parent and teach her youngster everything it needs to know to survive in the great, wide world. There'll be time later for her to fly the coop.  And she will, just wait and see.