Raising Children- Challenges and Rewards
 

So far what has been the biggest challenge for you in raising your children and how did you handle it? What has been your greatest reward?

Did someone forget to hit the SNOOZE bar on their biological clock?

Add a shot of vodka to their Kool Aid and they become very mellow and easy to handle.

They make "Benadryl" for that now, works good. Give em a shot, they fold up like a rubber band.

Rewards? ;)

Ask again after the last one leaves . . . .

They should put grape Dimeatapp "on the rocks" on the kids menus at airport restaurants. :D

Thanks for the laugh. I needed a pick me up. :D:D
22 and a wake up to April 15th:rolleyes:

Rewards? I guess watching my kids do a better job of growing-up than I did is #1. They have a better sense of community and relationships than I have. Maybe #2 is seeing the different paths they choose, each one a good path for anybody.

Somewhere down the list is sparing me the heartache of bad decisions gone horribly wrong. One kid was street racing for the hell of it and killed a family. He wasn't on drugs or naything. Just f**ked-up and lost it.

Reward would be seeing all of your hard work FINALLY click In your kid's head and them making a well thought out decision concerning their life.

That's when it's really get's expensive:eek:

here's an example
 

My younger daughter had troubles breathing well when laying down at night. I often slept on the couch sitting up with her on my chest - more vertical than horizontal. If she coughed I would pat her back. It seemed comforting for her. It cost me at least 100 nights of good sleep.

One night, she was about 18 months old, she had a cold and we were on the couch again. I had her cold also ( the lovely 30 pound germ sponges love to share with parental units). I coughed, ..... and she patted my back.

It seems to me that with everything in life, your job, your spouse, your car, your kids..... unless I invest some emotional energy in them, then I don't appreciate their value. Take a job that you have spilled your guts into for 15 years, then quit. How do you feel. You have a car like Hatty's SDL. You invest $, busted knuckles, and your free time... it becomes an emotional tie. Now multiply that times 1000 and that's where kids are. They are way harder to maintain than cars, and give back so much more.

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Best is seeing them as they go from doubt, to success in any aspect of their life. Worst, is when they do wrong, and know it. And they truly have a broke heart because of it.

I tried talking my daughter into breaking it off with her boyfriend of 2 years, due to him being a controlling type of person. It took 4 months after our talk, but she called me right after she broke up with him. she told me I was getting smarter everyday!

That's a moment of pride, when your kids understand your thinking and logic, and act on it.

Mine's a teen, rewards are scarce!! :eek:

But seriously, God blessed us with an incredible little girl that is turning into an incredibly talented little woman!

My wife was an all-star athlete back in the day, while I was an accomplished musician...our daughter is both! Watching her blossom is all the reward I need! :)

Whenever I am in the path of her teen "angst", I quickly recall her "baby days"...that always helps...

My oldest son had/ has ADD. Big Challenge
Hearing my words come out of his mouth as he begins a family is a big reward.

My other son finished 10 years of college and is on faculty at West Chester University. Very little challenge ( other than his ego), great rewards watching his musical carrer--playing at The Academy of Music, and at carnegie Hall.)

Mine are still all under 12 so it's relatively easy.

My two oldest have been on either side of the behavioral spectrum. Son #1 has excessive energy and used to push the limit. And my daughter is incredibly polite but lacking confidence and seemed to be afraid to ask questions. S#1 has made incredible strides with focusing his energy elsewhere, keeping him out of trouble. And my daughter has become increasingly confident in her own abilities, although she still needs to speak up more. Both of them are very bright but my daughter has to work for it while is comes easy to S#1. Both of them are in the Apex (gifted) program at school, which speaks volumes to S#1's ability to focus when he wants to and DD's need to be more confident in her abilities.

I hate to quantify any of their accomplishments but I would have to say the biggest challenge and rewards would be son #2. We didn't learn that he had Down syndrome until after he was born (never did any prenatal testing because the results wouldn't have mattered). It was devastating at the time. And not so much how it effected me (which it did) but fearful of how he would be treated as he grew up. There are a lot of *********s in the world and the thought of your kid being crushed from being teased and picked on is a punch in the gut.

He's been lucky healthwise -knock on wood- but has still spent some time in NICU and had a few surgeries (goes back to the cardiologist next year to determine what if anything needs to be done with a hole). As you would imagine, everything is delayed developmentally. It's made me a far more patient person and I'm a lot more appreciative of those "little" accomplishments that I took forgranted with my older two.

I'm most proud of the fact that, while still delayed, he has exceeded everyone's goals for his first year in school. I incredibly proud as I watch this 6 year old kid march down the hallways, with every kid saying "Hi Garrett" and him saying hi back and knowing all of their names. The same goes for the teachers. I'm proud as I watch him walk up to the 6th graders and give them a high five or knuckles and they return favor with a big hug (something we're actually trying to get G to stop because he hugs everybody and he needs to learn the boundaries).

There's just something about this kid who brings smiles to everyone he meets. And at the same time shames me for setting limits in my head (just after he was born) before he even had a chance to show me otherwise.

You're a good writer.