
Today was an incredible day. A couple close to me and my wife because parents for the second time in two years. It was announced that my youngest daughter was the grand prize winner of a national competition, winning a $10,000 scholarship.
But it was also the day, that one of the students at the school I teach at, lost his baby sister to cancer. I went from the high of my friends' baby and my child's win, to the sadness of loss...all in one day, the same day.
It got me thinking that this is a day my friends and I will remember fondly for the rest of our lives, while the parents of the baby who passed away will remember with sorrow. We don't experience incredible happiness or terrible pain everyday with regard to our children, but someone does. On any given day there are parents who are elated because of their children, while others are upset or frustrated or heart-broken... every single day is a day to be remembered for some parents somewhere on the planet.
The incredible events of today made me realize that as parents we don't know what kind of day tomorrow ill be, so we need to appreciate what we have today. It doesn't have to be our baby's birth or the winning of a scholarship. Any success, no matter how small (tying a shoe for the first time, coming home with a B+ paper, making an paper airplane that flies) needs to be appreciated, because any day anything can happen, and we need to be sure we lived and celebrated all of our children's victories when they showed themselves.
image courtesy of ©MorgueFile.com/earl53
But it was also the day, that one of the students at the school I teach at, lost his baby sister to cancer. I went from the high of my friends' baby and my child's win, to the sadness of loss...all in one day, the same day.
It got me thinking that this is a day my friends and I will remember fondly for the rest of our lives, while the parents of the baby who passed away will remember with sorrow. We don't experience incredible happiness or terrible pain everyday with regard to our children, but someone does. On any given day there are parents who are elated because of their children, while others are upset or frustrated or heart-broken... every single day is a day to be remembered for some parents somewhere on the planet.
The incredible events of today made me realize that as parents we don't know what kind of day tomorrow ill be, so we need to appreciate what we have today. It doesn't have to be our baby's birth or the winning of a scholarship. Any success, no matter how small (tying a shoe for the first time, coming home with a B+ paper, making an paper airplane that flies) needs to be appreciated, because any day anything can happen, and we need to be sure we lived and celebrated all of our children's victories when they showed themselves.
image courtesy of ©MorgueFile.com/earl53