His Time to Swing
http://powerofmoms.com/articles/143/1/His-Time-to-Swing/Page1.html
April Perry
April Perry is a mother of four precious children and is the founder of "Power of Moms." She received a BA in Communications and loves reading, writing, learning from the wonderful mothers around her, and spending time with her family (especially her cute husband). By April Perry
Published on 09/16/2008
I didn't realize how much I missed swinging until I got on the swingset the other day with my daughter. The height, the rush of the wind, and the fun of feeling free made it a great moment...until I realized I was taking up the swing my son had wanted to use. Here is what he taught me.
His Time to Swing
Our family went on a little campout, and I had a few minutes after dinner to play on the playground with my children, ages 8, 6, and 5 while my husband stayed with our baby. Ethan and Alia were running around on the bridges and slides, and Grace and I raced over to the swings together. The little playset only had two swings, so Grace and I pumped up and down and laughed together as we went higher and higher.
It was FUN. I don't usually get on the swings because I'm generally happier resting on a bench and letting my children wear out their batteries before naps or bedtime. This time, though, we were on vacation, and I realized that those swings are the coolest invention. After swinging for a couple of minutes, I looked down to my side and saw Ethan (age 5) with a sad look on his face. "Do you want to swing?" I asked him. He nodded. At first, I wanted to say, "Well, let me swing for awhile, and then you can have a turn," but then the thought came: "It's his time to swing."
This thought process only lasted about five seconds in my head, and then I let my little guy on the swing, but those five seconds taught me something important. It is definitely wonderful for me to play with my children, but I don't want to be the one playing in the place of my children. I've had my years of swinging, but now it is his time. I can push them on the swings, tickle their tummies when they get close to me, laugh with them, cheer them on, and love them, but swinging myself while they sit with frowns on their faces isn't the best option.
This applies to other areas of my life, too. I want to have fun and enjoy life, but there has to be balance in how much I do for me and how much I do for them. I could easily take all day, everyday, doing what I want to do, but that's not the point right now. I am still a person, and I need time to develop myself, but some sacrifice on my part is necessary because this really is the time for my children to have a great childhood.
My life has changed a little since then. I'll occasionally let my children stay up an extra half-hour and teach them how to sew or read a book with them instead of moving right on to watch something on TV or surf the Internet. I'll put my list of phone calls away for awhile so I can give them my full attention when they want to talk about what they learned at school. I'll say "yes" to something messy because I know they'll love it. I am definitely not a perfect mom, but I feel more at peace when I work on projects I love when I know my children have had their time to swing.
It was FUN. I don't usually get on the swings because I'm generally happier resting on a bench and letting my children wear out their batteries before naps or bedtime. This time, though, we were on vacation, and I realized that those swings are the coolest invention. After swinging for a couple of minutes, I looked down to my side and saw Ethan (age 5) with a sad look on his face. "Do you want to swing?" I asked him. He nodded. At first, I wanted to say, "Well, let me swing for awhile, and then you can have a turn," but then the thought came: "It's his time to swing."
This thought process only lasted about five seconds in my head, and then I let my little guy on the swing, but those five seconds taught me something important. It is definitely wonderful for me to play with my children, but I don't want to be the one playing in the place of my children. I've had my years of swinging, but now it is his time. I can push them on the swings, tickle their tummies when they get close to me, laugh with them, cheer them on, and love them, but swinging myself while they sit with frowns on their faces isn't the best option.
This applies to other areas of my life, too. I want to have fun and enjoy life, but there has to be balance in how much I do for me and how much I do for them. I could easily take all day, everyday, doing what I want to do, but that's not the point right now. I am still a person, and I need time to develop myself, but some sacrifice on my part is necessary because this really is the time for my children to have a great childhood.
My life has changed a little since then. I'll occasionally let my children stay up an extra half-hour and teach them how to sew or read a book with them instead of moving right on to watch something on TV or surf the Internet. I'll put my list of phone calls away for awhile so I can give them my full attention when they want to talk about what they learned at school. I'll say "yes" to something messy because I know they'll love it. I am definitely not a perfect mom, but I feel more at peace when I work on projects I love when I know my children have had their time to swing.