Life's Lessons

I took my son to the park today with a few other mommies. They were commenting on how well my son spoke and followed direction, when just a few days ago my husband and I were having a conversation about how some other child spoke so much clear and had such a better vocabulary than our son.

It was so nice to hear these wonderful things about my son, but at the same time it has made me realize, I was putting to much thought into it in the first place. My son is not going to go into college speaking in a nasally, unintelligible speech. He is not going to walk out of his dorm room and announce he is poop'y...repetitively! It is only a matter of time before these "issues" start to correct themselves. He doesn't need me to worry about those things. Instead, there are things in his life that only I can teach him. Those are the things I should be focused on. The things that he is not going to learn from anyone else, but me.

Unconditional love. The honest but loving support only a parent can give. How to be a gentleman. How to treat a lady. How to make up for a mistake. How to be a kind and loving father. Only I can ensure he has a positive self esteem. That he has confidence in himself. That he is a good person. That he is an honest person. Respectful. That he has faith in people. That he recognizes the good in everybody and treats everyone with respect and kindness. That he stands up for others and can stand up for himself. Only I can teach him to take criticism as a gift and not an attack. And only I can teach him what it feel like to be in a safe, loving and supportive home. And only I can give him the freedom to discover the world and grow in his own time.

That is what is important! and nothing else.

I am so grateful for that lesson today. I am even more touched that the mommy that gave me that valuable lesson didn't even mean to. She was just being a mom, a friend, and probably a worrier.