Anyway, it seems like a good time to reflect. I don’t believe you should live in the past, and I don’t believe you should dwell on your regrets. Your youngest child’s senior year is already emotional, so I’m not going to “go there.” But I do think I’ll list some things I’m glad we did:
- I’m glad we flew kites in the front yard.
- I’m glad we took time to get away – from the day trips that led us through the mountains and into museums to the week-long vacations.
- I’m glad I let my kids get dirty.
- I’m glad I let the house stay messy sometimes in favor of time spent playing with dolls, reading books, watching movies, or packing up a picnic to take outside.
- I'm glad for fairy houses.
- I'm glad we kept fun stuff on the lower shelves.
- I'm glad we let them "help" in the kitchen.
- I'm glad I got out of the way once in a while to let them spend some time with their dad.
- I’m glad we kept the fridge littered with pictures, art work, and achievements.
- I’m glad I left the Christmas tree up longer than I should have.
- I’m glad we didn’t overdo the Santa thing.
- I’m glad we kept the focus on Jesus at Easter.
- I’m glad we kept them in church.
- I'm glad we hugged them.
- I'm glad we said, "I love you," and "I'm proud of you."
- I’m glad I went on all those field trips.
- I’m glad I helped out in their classrooms.
- I’m glad we “lived” at the library some days.
- I’m glad we fed the ducks.
- I’m glad we didn’t let them disrespect us.
- I’m glad we disciplined them when we had to.
- I’m glad we chose our battles carefully, and chose to let some things go.
- I’m glad we spent a little extra to let them do extracurricular activities.
- I’m glad we didn’t let extracurricular activities take over their lives.
- I’m glad we bought second hand clothes and bargain priced groceries.
- I’m glad we let them splurge when it counted.
- I’m glad we taught them to enjoy healthy foods.
- I’m glad we didn’t make them eat healthy foods all the time.
- I’m glad we took pictures, without taking too many.
- I’m glad our kids got to travel internationally.
- I’m glad we gave them opportunities to serve others.
- I’m glad we made their health and wellness a priority.
- I’m glad God was part of our lives outside of church.
- I’m glad that, for the most part, we were the same people at home that we were in public.
- I’m glad we didn’t take that Disney boycott thing too seriously.
- I’m glad they got to know extended family.
- I’m glad they got to spend quality time with their grandparents.
- I’m glad we opened our home to their friends.
- I’m glad we said no sometimes. I’m also glad we said yes.
- I’m glad we took them to Vacation Bible School.
- I’m glad we were vigilant about what they were allowed to watch on TV.
- I’m glad we watched public TV.
- I’m so, so, so glad for all the times we shut up and listened. I wish we had done even more of that.
- I’m glad we occasionally turned down invitations from adults so we could do things with our kids.
- I’m glad we were there. There for dance recitals, plays, concerts, soccer games, basketball, drill meets, presentations at school, church programs – all of it. Sometimes it was hard to do, and there were times when we couldn’t make it happen, but I will never regret the many moments spent watching from the wings, cheering from the balcony, or snapping pictures from the front row.
Time goes by so fast. There are so many things I wish we could have done with our kids, there are things I wish we had bought them, and there are places I meant to take them. It’s easy to feel sadness and regret when your nest is starting to empty out.
Looking back on the nest that's almost empty, I understand now that the most important things we do for our children are not the big things like expensive gifts or over-the-top excursions, but the little, every day things that let our kids know we love them consistently – in all seasons, through all phases, when life is perfect and when it isn’t, when our kids are perfect and when they aren’t. The little things I’m glad for today are the building blocks that have given my children a solid foundation to be the strong, self-confident, and loving people they are today.
