How We Look at Our Parents as Adults
You often hear people say: "you will never appreciate your parents until you become a parent yourself," and when you become a parent, you realise how true that statement is.
At some point, just like that, the tables turn, and your parents start needing you like you needed them. You become their sense of security, their support system, and their facilitator.
This snow storm, my mother was in danger; and I as I heard the news, I felt my heart sink and my brain think a million thoughts: "How do I get her out of there? When can I reach her? Is she safe and catered to? and the worries kept rolling in. When things finally cleared up and we reached her, I realised how "helpless" she must have felt and how it is now our responsibility to care for her.
It is something I was brought up on; I remember when as a child I used to stand behind the door and watch my mother bathe her own mother. I remember my father preparing his own father's meals as early as 5am. And thinking back, it is a grand thing for a child to grow up watching.
As parents ourselves, we must not get so involved in our own lives that we miss out on enjoying our parents as adults; to get to know them past their parenting responsibilities that had consumed them for years and to know them when they are relaxed and free to be themselves.
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