Parenting Emotions - Joy

Those are the moments when you feel your heart is going to burst with pride

It may be because your baby has given you their first smile

It may be later in life when they graduate with honours

Lots of things make us happy as a parent

But its those moments of pure JOY that make it so worthwhile.

We take so much pride in those little things our babies do, sometimes I even find myself bragging about the “naughty’ things my children do!!! Why would I brag about that ????? Easy answer is that I also take pride in seeing their own character develop. Besides when I say “Naughty” I mean those mischievous moments that are harmless and funny, anything we would share a giggle about later.

There is the Pure Joy of when your child comes to you with no reason or motivation other than to hug you, kiss you or tell you how much they love you. That thrill you get in your chest at these moments are not just Happiness, they are Joy.

I don’t believe there is any Joy that is parallel to that of watching a child you have created, transform into an adult that is capable of making a good life for themselves and being grateful for the time and love you poured onto them as they grew and continuing to love their parents.
Joy of Parenting in my definition comes hand in hand with pride.

We can be so proud of even the most simplest of things, no doubt we all can find the list of the dates are babies reached certain milestones

First Smile
First Tooth
First Roll
First Sat
First Stood
First Steps etc etc etc

We get such a buzz from recording and bragging about these stages. Our child is so wonderful in our eyes and so clever, it is perfectly right to brag and be happy about these things. By being excited about each event we are also pouring confidence into our child to try the next new stage, as we all know that young babies just want to please us.

When they start school, we take Joy and Pride in their educational achievements, sometimes they may be struggling at certain subjects and we can put time and patience into it and help them grasp whatever they are missing. When they finally understand we are again filled with Joy and Pride at their abilities.

As they go forward to adulthood, we can experience Joy as we watch the young child we have put all our love into transform from the chrysalis into a beautiful butterfly that is now capable of spreading their wings and flying through life unaided.

But we can also have the Joy of knowing that if we continue to love that child, they are just as capable of using that same independence to always being there for us too. Even if we don’t need their physical help, the one thing we always need from our child is their Love.

And when you can keep that love, that is Joy of a whole new level