Random thoughts

It was a big joy meeting up with my niece, nephew in law and grand niece and looking at them and spending time with them made me reflect.I met my grand niece for the first time in 11 years.When I first " saw" her she was in mummy's stomach.Today she is 11 and I notice that she is a finely brought up little girl. Kudos to the parents. I realize that I had missed out on seeing her grow up for the past 11 years.I'm sure the parents would have enjoyed seeing her develop, talking ...saying her first words, walking and learning how to read and write. Too often , parents are so wrapped up in their own affairs that they fail to enjoy seeing their kid grow up.The process and the privilege of being part of it is priceless.Children grow up fast and it is when they are young that they need the parents, to guide them ,to do things for them etc.Once they grow up they do not need us anymore.It is what we give them in terms of values, companionship and love which will determine how they see us when they become adults and also what kind of adults they turn out to be.Cases of children abandoning parents are not uncommon and cases of parent - children conflict are not unusual.Why do such things happen ? We really have to take a step back and look at ourselves.I see the warmth of the mother- daughter , father- daughter relationship which my grand niece enjoys and herein lies the secret of parent - children relationship.Spending time with the kids, bonding with them ,sharing with them , guiding them through life are things which which cement the future parent- child relationship. Undoubtedly parents play a big role in developing the character of the child.Children must be infused with and taught how to treasure the right values one of the most important of which is to value family ties. Family is special , it simply means people who are bonded by blood and marriage ties.Relationship between members of the same family is so different from that with friends.Sadly enough we hear and see of family members who are in conflict with each other to the extent they dont want to even want to have anything to do with each other.We need to ask ourselves how such a situation has come about and figure out how we on our part as parents and members of a family can ensure that this does not happen.After all society has always stressed on the importance of the family unit as the base of civilization. Our priorities must be clear.When given a choice ..whom do we put on top of the list ? our family or other things ? We know of parents who die with their arms round their children in the event of an accident, of parents who starve so that their children can live and even parents who steal and rob so that their children can survive.Such is the maternal instinct of humans and it is things like this which make the human species special.Our children are our treasures and as such they must always be valued.As parents we have to ask ourselves from time to time what sort of parents are we and what sort of upbringing and values in life which we give to our children and constantly remind ourselves to be better parents in the true sense of the word.