We all want our children to grow up to be responsible adults. We spend time nurturing and teaching and guiding so that we can form or mold them into responsible citizens. And when we look at how well they are doing we breath a sigh of relief. Parenting is not easy, there are no books and we learn as we go.
An event took place over the weekend that has made me realize just how responsible children can be. My daughter and her fiancée decided to get their first pet. This pet is a mini potbellied piglet. Because their home is not ready they asked me to help and “pig sit”. What wasn’t planned is that the piglets in the litter were pulled from mom too early and sent to a person who was the middleman.
Being the responsible grandmother that I intended to be in the piglet world I went with the kids to pick up the “baby”. Okay, can anyone guess what happens next? Long story short we have twins. And being dehydrated they need constant care.
Teaching my children to care for baby pets
I have learned that two boys ages 13 and 10 can be excellent caregivers. If piglets can get these boys up at 5am to help bottle-feed then I should have done this long ago! I have also learned that my daughter and her fiancée are going to be excellent parents to human children someday. Kids, if you are reading this please hold off on the human grandbabies until I recoup from piglets.
Teaching our children is not always easy. We have the usual homework battles as well as the getting up for school issues. We certainly are not the Brady Bunch. But watching my family care and nurture the piglets has made me realize just how far these children we have raised have come. Will they turn out to be responsible adults? I hope they will!
We as parents tend to get caught up in the everyday tasks of life. We are often so busy that we don’t take time to actually stop and see just how our efforts pay off.
Even before having children of our own we hear and read just how hard parenting can be. Truth is, the experts are right, it is tough and overwhelming at times. There is something the experts can’t show or tell us though. They can’t make our hearts swell with pride anywhere near as well as our children can!
So parents give yourself a pat on the back….we continue the tough job but we manage to get the job done with great rewards.
Do you have pets? How have you gotten your children to help care for them?
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