FOOD FOR THOUGHT: BY ROSLYN ROZBRUCH (AS I SEE IT)
If I were to compare motherhood to a career, I would say being a parent has been the hardest job of my life.
You might wonder why I think that, or maybe you’re just nodding your head in agreement. In any case, the last few times I’ve been at my workout, my personal trainer, Melissa, and I have talked about this topic. She has two young sons under the age of 9, and we’ve discussed the challenges of being a mother and getting children to listen. I once told her if I were to do anything over in my life, it would be to “redo” raising my children. I shared that I didn’t consider myself to be a bad mom; it’s more like many of my ideas about child rearing were wrong. When I was pregnant over 31 years ago, I thought I could mold my child to behave a certain way, to do things like having a neat and tidy bedroom. I’m an organized person, so I thought I could train her to be that way too. What my firstborn, Danielle, taught me instead was that her will was stronger than Wonder Woman’s superpowers. I told Melissa that I now have a better idea of how I would act as a mom, and instead of trying to change Danielle, I would accept the person she was and let her do things like leave her coat on in a restaurant while she ate her dinner next to a roaring fireplace. It gives me comfort to know I’m not the only challenged parent out there. In fact, I know more parents that share my sentiments than don’t. Although, many times I’ve heard parents say, “I want to be the best parent I can be, so my children can be their best.”Well, you can be the best parent — but that doesn’t guarantee that your child will turn out to be the person you think they should be, and if your child has issues, that doesn’t mean you weren’t the best parent either. But what has this got to do with you? Not everyone reading this column is a parent. My point is relationships with family and loved ones can be complicated, and acceptance and understanding of someone else’s differences is the key to getting along with that person and actually enjoying the time you spend with them. My thought isn’t restricted to you and your child’s relationship; it also applies to you and your parent, sibling, or spouse. It’s something to think about — I love my daughter, brother, fill-in-the-blank, and accept who they are, even if I don’t agree with them. I’m the first person to admit guilt in trying to better someone in my family. But, as
Roslyn with daughters Danielle and Erica
I’ve been helping my younger daughter, Erica, plan her wedding with her fiancé, Ramsey, I’ve been more aware to let it be their wedding and make the decisions of location, photographers, etc. I’ve been working with them and giving suggestions but letting them make the final decisions. Now, that’s acceptance and tolerance! Luckily, they don’t have any extreme requests. Ramsey has parents also, and they have ideas too, so there are a lot of people’s opinions in the mix. Anyway, after a long engagement, Erica and Ramsey will be tying the knot this July, and Michael and I look forward to celebrating with them, our families, and friends. We also look forward to one day when Erica and Ramsey have children, so they can do the parenting, and Michael and I can just spoil our grandchildren.
–Roslyn Rozbruch
2 • www.rozstrategies.com
888.670.0303 • 3
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online