Comments on: Isn’t She Lovely

By: Steve Brownlee

Steve Brownlee — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:38:51 +0000

@Mike: Don’t get me wrong, I grew up with a sister, and my wife had two, so we both know that the teenage years are going to be horrific at times. Screaming matches, grudges that last for weeks, going out with the “wrong” boys just to spite us, attitudes from hell…

It’s just that now those times are far away and I want to enjoy these days as much as possible, and I know that I’ll miss them some day.

By: Mike Kear

Mike Kear — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:00:12 +0000

I can remember thinking precisely the same thing, what seems like the day before yesterday. But it was a lot longer ago than that, because for me the time has finally come – my last youngster is moving out to his own place this coming weekend.

I think fondly of those wonderful moments, sitting on my son’s bed with him snuggling in reading a bedtime story, as you say teaching him my stupid jokes (which he now holds me responsible for). I have the regrets about the large number of nights when i had to say goodnight to my boys by phone because i was working at the office.

But nature takes care of that. When they become late teenagers, they transmogrify from those beautiful alert, growing developing exciting young kids into the most repulsive creatures known to man. 17year olds are NOT what you want in your house. They dont talk, they grunt. Where are you going? UNGGH! How was your day? UHGGN! Did you get your exam results yet? UGGNM! What’s your new girlfriend’s name? UGGHMM! And anything you do or say, regardless is wrong. Not only that it is beyond human understanding why you could even THINK that was the right thing to do!

Trust me, when the time comes for your beautiful little girls to leave home, you’ll be glad to see the back of them. You’ll be cracking open the champagne in celebration that you finally managed to make it through the firestorm. By that stage, having them at arms length living nearby but in someone else’s house will be an extremely attractive proposition.

So enjoy the moment. Try not to have too many times when you have to miss that wonderful bedtime story moment – that is absolutely the best time of the day – and don’t worry about what comes ahead. You wont be sad when the time comes for them to leave.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:28:08 +0000

I have two children, 18 months (girl) and 2 months (boy). I was flying back last week to home after leaving them and their mother with her family for a 2 week visit. The first three songs that came on my iPod were Stealing Cinderella, Don’t Blink, and There Goes My Life. I was pretty much on the mat after the last one.

Where is that dang Pause button on life?

By: Joe Williamson

Joe Williamson — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:41:42 +0000

Steve,

As a father of a beautiful, sixteen-month old littel girl, your post got me right on the chin. Well spoken…