The Best Age

There was a time, when I was a young father, that I was so enjoying my children that I thought, “This is the best age!  I wish they could stay this age forever.”  It was the “cute” stage where they were still learning to pronounce their words correctly.  For example, on a drive through the back roads of Chino they might say, “What’s it ‘mell like, Daddy?” or “Can we watch Mag-a-num PI when we get home?”  But time does not stand still….

And then they reached the “questioning” age.  This is such a great time for parents because then you get to make up all these creative answers and see what you can get away with.  “Why is the sky blue, Daddy?”  “It’s because there’s this big blue ball around our world, like the ball your hamster runs around in.”  I don’t know about your children, but mine never accepted my first answers.  “Come on, Daddy, what’s the real reason?”  And then I would remember my previous thought when they were younger and I’d think to myself, “No, this is the best age!  I wish they could stay this age forever.”

The thought of a child becoming a teenager sometimes strikes fear in the heart of a parent.  But when we reached that point, I so enjoyed the time we spent together.  I saw my children struggling to become the independent people we were raising them to be.  And truly, at this point, I once again thought to myself, “No, this is the best age!”

And now my children are adults and we relate to each other on a totally different level.  They have developed their own understanding of the world around them.  They have taken ownership of their lives.  They have made their Faith their own.

And once again I find myself thinking, “No, this is the best age!”

… Tom