The Hardest Part

By Stacy LaMore

I think that through every stage of parenthood, we think that the part we are in MUST be the hardest part, right?

When you have your first newborn, you think, “How will my life every be normal again? How will I ever shower in peace again?” And, then, that stage passes, and your child is off and crawling – or rolling as one of our kids did, and you lament not enjoying those days when your child would just lie there and not go anywhere because now you must be careful of the dangerous things he/she can reach.

When they are little and they cry but they can’t talk yet, you wish they could just TELL you what is wrong and what they need, but then they start talking and throwing tantrums (usually during the Consecration, am I right?), and you long for the days when “no” and “why” were not yet able to be uttered.

Now ,my husband and I are raising teenagers and we think THIS is the hardest part.  We definitely enjoy the fact that they are independent and don’t need us to make their lunch or change their diapers, but big decisions about life and how they choose to live theirs come into play.

I look back at the infant and toddler days and think about how sweet they were and holding little kids, but also about the fact that I was always cleaning up some mess or another.

Now, there is always some discussion about difficult choices our children are making and how they are handling them.

So, while I don’t get to hug little babies anymore, I do get the joy when one of my babies comes into a room to hug me and try to enjoy right where we are.