A Parent’s Alphabet

A is for arms, arms that hold and arms that support and arms that push when they have to.
B is for books, which should abound in every home; and for boredom, which can’t stay long if books are there.
C is for children, and the caring and crying which sometimes come together all at once.
D is for doors, which you sometimes have to help them open and through which they have to go someday never to return unchanged; and for discipline and dignity, which you owe every child.
E is for everything you hope for them; and for education, which takes place at least as much at home as it does in school
F is for foolish mistakes you make with your kids; and for the freedom they must have to make their own.
G is for grandparents, who can add tradition and wisdom to children’s lives; and for growth, which parents and kids can experience together.
H is for home, which is only sometimes a house where a child feels wanted and loved.
I is for ignorance, which darkens the world and is sometimes mistaken for innocence.
J is for jealousy, which creeps into so many relationships, and for joy, which can push it out.
K is for kickball, and tag and hide-and-seek and all those other adult-less games kids need to play; and for kissing, and hugging, which nobody does enough of.
L is for love, of course.
M is for the memory all parents have of what childhood was like for them; and for money, which can never substitute for love no matter how lavishly given; and for manners, which make living easier.
N is for nurturing, the giving of love and care which only sometimes comes naturally.
O is for occupation, which takes so much of your time; and for the openness which exists when kids and parents really work at it.
P is for presents, which are easy to give; and for presence, which is harder; and for parenthood, which is only partly a biological function; and for the patience it takes to see you through it.
Q is for questions, which are so easy to turn off and so hard to turn back on.
R is for the rest, which it seems never comes while the kids are young; and for reward, which you get when you look in their faces or hold their hands.
S is for summer, which seems endless; and for school, where you ought to feel welcome; for the stories you know; and for shoulders, which sometimes are drenched with tears.
T is for time, which there never seems to be enough of; and for teachers who try to understand.
U is for the upper hand, which you try so hard to keep; and for the understanding that you try so hard to have.
V is for the virtue of overcoming all those roadblocks life seems to throw just when everything is going well.
W is for the whys, which can drive you up the wall; and the wisdom it takes to answer them.
X is for the x-ray of the broken bone you both cried over; and for the extra love it takes to be a parent.
Y is for yelling, which helps only temporarily; and for being young, which is only partly a matter of years.
Z is for the end, the end of alphabets, the end of childhood, but never the end of love.

From Handbook for Success by Project SCEIs