Parenting 101 Tip 5 : They are only young once

They are only Young once...

Let's began by sharing this with you.
Many of us have the following notion.
Work is important, money is important, time is important.


When in our youth we have lots of time, so much energy, not much money
When we are working, we have so much energy, making a little money, too little time
When we retired, we have too much money, too little energy and not enough time to spend it.

Source- unknown

So the morale is that you may not always balance work, money and time.
So stop worrying and start living

What are deemed to be important are but an illusion.

What matters it the time you spend with you love ones, especially your kids.
They are only young once and such youth would disappear as time goes on.
Do be there for their first crawl, their first steps , their first bite, their first word.
You could never relive the moment if you let it pass.

Do spend time to be involved in their growing up process. There are parents who only see the children during weekends. During weekdays the children are left with caregivers like Grandparents or Nannies. Some may say that this is unavoidable. It may be very true in most instances, but do make an effort to see the child during the weekdays as well (especially if you are in tiny Singapore where everywhere is but a mere 30 mins or less drive away). Believe me, the child will know if you were there when they are young.

If you were that child once, do you remember?

Enjoy the innocence of youth. Indulge in their laughter, curiosity and untainted minds.

Through them, you will enjoy what you had before.
A childhood that is bathe in innocence and purity, free from the shackles of life's demands and expectations.

Best of all, keep a journal, a diary or a blog to remember those special moments.

The moments are fleeting, but precious.

After all,

They are only young once.

Dearest Sons
Daddy and Mummy never profess to be the perfect parents. There are periods in your lives that Daddy and Mummy were too occupied by work to give you our full attention. We acknowledged those times. We want to let you know that we missed you during those periods. Nevertheless we try our best and will always dedicate family time with you in the evening for some play and cuddle.

Hopefully the good that we do today, you will do too in the future with your children. As for the bad, we would only hope you would be better parents than us and learn from our errors in judgement.

Love always
Daddy and Mummy

Read this article on 'Daddies don't let your babies grow up to be strangers'

For more parenting 101, read our Parenting 101 tips archives