The tears fell from her eyes and I was broken. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t do it. I was prepared – really prepared to follow through with giving her a spanking, but those tears. Oh those tears. Coupled with the piercing look of regret, those tears shut me down as if the electricity went out. I had no power left.

When the power returned a conversation started. And so the path back to joy began. Oh the pleasure of parenting.

No parent wants to fail. Really think about that. Do you know anyone who sets out to purposefully ruin their kid’s lives? If you do, please us the Contact Page to inform me.

Seriously though, we all want to do a good job. We all want to lead our kids along the right paths. How great would it be to see everything we worked for to result in our kid’s happily ever afters? It would be wonderful, but the journey is a messy one.

I discipline more often than I want to. From spankings to conversations, removal of devices and more – it is not fun. I always wanted to be the dad that my kids would always want to be around, but nope! Don’t get me wrong. My daughter loves me over the moon and back be she would prefer to be with her cousins any day of the week. That’s mostly because she is an only child and does not get to spend as much time with kids her age as we would like.

As you know, those are some of the complexities of parenthood. Disciple, quality time with friends and family, managing time with electronic devices, school, conversations about everything, food preferences and more make the perfect storm several times in a day. But when we experience the milestones, progressions, successes, feats and triumphs our role becomes a pleasure.

Keep the bigger picture in mind changes everything. Knowing that we’re in this for the long haul shifts our perspective. Of course we will experience the lows from time to time. Without the lows, the highs are not celebrated as much.

The pleasure of parenting comes when you realize what it took to get where you and your child are. You remember the tummy time that eventually lead to walking on their own. You remember the frustrations of bunny ears that lead to them finally tying shoes themselves. You remember the potty training, teaching how to shave and training-wheels to riding with no hands.

Parenting is such a pleasure. Enjoy it!

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