When Did You Learn To Appreciate Your Parents?

I have to admit that I skipped *gasp* two workouts this week, and took a day of vacation on Friday to go with the wife and kids to the Kentucky State Fair.  So we all loaded up for a 2-hour drive, and traipsed back and forth across the fairgrounds for a day.  We had fun, but I can honestly say that its not until you start doing stuff like that you learn to really appreciate your parents, and all the sacrifices they made.  It’s eye-opening.

Learning To Appreciate Your Parents

In the near future, my kids will be moving into a new elementary school.  It’s billed as the first “net zero energy” school in the country, and its a big deal.  Officials have done a great job of getting the kids and parents excited about this new opportunity.  Part of the excitement was to be a trip to the State Fair this week, where the kids would get to learn about the benefits of energy efficiency.  The school asked for chaperones, so my wife and I volunteered.  We followed the buses up and helped herd the kids around the different exhibits.

I was reciting this story to my parents, and was asked in turn if any of the kids were shining flashlights around the inside of the vehicles; or doing any of the other unruly things I did at that age.

You see, my parents were there for me.  They were the bus drivers and chaperones.  The companions that watched over me as I ran amuck, growing into young adulthood.  Their willingness to participate allowed me to gain experiences that I may have otherwise never formed.  They were participants in all aspects of my childhood.

I’ve always appreciated these things in my own way.  Yet, my understanding of that appreciation changes as I progress through life.  Until you’re a parent yourself, trying to balance the roles of provider, caregiver, friend, spouse, professional, and individual, it’s impossible to truly understand the level of dedication they had to my childhood.

So now, I’ve taken up the baton.  Sometimes less than gracefully, perhaps, but I’ll carry it to the best of my ability.  I can only hope that my kids feel they’ve had a childhood as good as my parents made mine.