My Parenting Crystal Ball is Broken

Every girl dreams of two things, their wedding day and being a mother. We take our dolls and love them, dress them, and even discipline them. In our world our children are perfect; our lives are perfect.

Wow! The power of innocence! We grow up and became parents in real life. I knew I wanted to be a mom; I wanted to be the best mom I could. I was not prepared for the all the challenges that came along with being a parent.

Society has our children growing up way to fast. They are not allowed to be kids. They are not allowed to go and have fun, make their own mistakes, live a pressure free youth. Kids are over scheduled with activities for school and homework. I did not think when I became a parent that I would be competing for a time to have a family dinner with my children. Kids want so much these days that are materialistic. They can not settle for reading a book; they would rather play a game on the latest video system.

When I became a parent, I did not think I would have to fight so hard for them to be just kids. I remember my childhood, it was carefree; I had responsibilities, but I was a kid. I was allowed to grow up on my terms; not society's. So much pressure is put upon kids to dress, look, and have the latest items.

I believe education is the greatest gift we can give our young people today. I never dreamed I would have to fight so hard to make sure they receive the best education they possibly can. We have slipped I feel when it comes to education; schools are not ran with educating our children to the best of its ability in the forefront; instead it is ran like a corporate business with our children's future bottoming out resulting in a lesser profit to society.

I love being a parent. It is the greatest job I will ever hold; the benefits are certainly worth the frustrations, embarrassments, and an occasional argument. I am sure as my children get older I will be surprised on the outcome of certain situations. I look at it this way; no parent has a crystal ball; parenting is never what we think it is going to be.