Parenting is the toughest job in the world. We have noted previously that for all our other jobs we go through an application process, an interview if seen to be potentially suitable, an appraisal; we need to have qualifications (often unnecessarily, granted); we are given a contract and job description, complete with salary and benefits plus leave.
However, for parenting, the toughest job in the world (let us just remind ourselves!), there is no application, no interview, no qualification, no appraisal, no pay (in fact, we pay, big time, non-stop!), no leave, no contract and no job description! We live in an upside-down world!
Of course, every job has its best parts and its worst parts so what are the best and worst parts of parenting?
We do well to start with all the worst parts – and, more than any other job, there are many, many, many! Where do we start?
The non-stop crying, screaming, bawling?
The regular interruptions during the night?
Tending to them when they are sick.
Taking them to hospital. Leaving them in hospital. Answering their endless ‘why’ questions.
- Parents as pianists
- The best part of parenting
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Dealing with their tantrums. Picking up all the toys left around the room. Picking up the food from the floor. Picking up the food from the wall. Picking up the food from the ceiling.
Cleaning the blood. Mopping up the sick. Dropping off and picking up from school. Doing homework.
We could go on – and on and on!
What about the best parts?
These may include those precious moments of silence when the child is asleep; the times she snuggles in for a cuddle; the classic innocent comments she utters unaware of their profundity or crudity; the times he says ‘Thank you’ without being reminded to do so; the first steps he takes; the first word she speaks; the praise he receives for working hard; the prize she wins for excelling; the squeals of laughter she exhales while being tickled; the look of delight (and even surprise!) when he achieves a difficult task; the uninvited phone call when she is away… should we go on? We certainly could!
However, this article is not aimed at encouraging or discouraging people from being or becoming parents; it is not a matter of trying to prove that the best outweighs the worst.
It is aimed at parents and especially parents whose children are now learning to play and playing sport.
The aim of this article is to highlight how one parent on social media showed she had understood the best part of parenting: she had ’cracked’ it, she got it, she knew it, she excelled. And what was the proof of this extraordinary claim?
She wrote, “I will sit in an over-crowded noisy gym anytime any day to watch you play”.
There you have it! Cold, noisy, stuffy, over-crowded, smelly gyms with complete strangers shouting their heads off — we will take it, no problem, if it is to watch our child play.
In other words, we will go wherever, whenever to watch our child play.
There is no other place we would prefer to be than to be there when our child is playing.
Our child may not appreciate the effort, the sacrifice, but that is not an issue; it may not mean the world to the child (though without her knowing it, it really does mean a huge amount to her – just do not embarrass her, that is all) but it means the world to the parent.
What a joy it is to watch our child play sport — such simple, beautiful, uplifting joy!
The parent though also underlined her understanding of the best part of parenting when she went on to add, “Proud of your sportsmanship — no surprise you’ld be a player of the game.”
The best part of parenting is not seeing our child excel in the sporting skills, techniques or tactics but in the far more important value of sportsmanship.
The parent got it (the best player is the team player, is the person player, the value player) and the child got it (and did it), making the parent enjoy it even more!
What could be better for a parent! It is not national representation but personal realisation.
The joy of seeing our child understand what is important in sport is truly the best part of parenting. It makes it all worthwhile, the freezing cold, crowded environment, near or far.
Parenting may be the toughest job but it is also the greatest – and easiest when we see our child succeed in this way.
