About a month ago, our oldest child Jessica inquired as to the whereabouts of the family videos we took of our kids when they were younger. We looked around a bit and finally found them. We hadn't seen them in years. The Gotham Gal took all the tapes over to the local photo store and got them put onto a set of DVDs, one for us and one each for the three kids. Jessica took the extra step of uploading all of them to Dropbox and inviting all of us to the folder.
So we've been watching these videos a bunch in the past month. We've also had the pleasure of having all of our kids home since late May so it has been "family time" at home. It's a rare thing these days and it won't last so we are making the most of it.
When I watch the videos, particularly the ones where we took Jessica home from the hospital, I marvel at how young we were. We had no idea what we were doing.
Fast forward to June 2013, twenty-two years later, and we've learned a lot about parenting. One of our kids is out of college, one is in college, and one is entering his senior year in high school. I feel older, but wiser. And our kids have themselves to thank for that. They have taught us how to be parents.
Parenting is one of life's great pleasures. It has made me a better person in many ways. I am more patient, accepting, and understanding than I was before kids entered our life.
So on Father's Day, I am thankful for the experience of being a parent and parenting. It's an incredible gift and I feel fortunate to have received it.
