Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash

I remember giving advice to my eldest brother, Roger, on his parenting style. He laughed at me and remarked, “Wait until you have your own children.”

Then I had my own children. My other brother, Dan, tried to give me advice about my parenting style. I laughed at him and remarked, “Wait until you have your own children.”

Dan then had his own children and I’m sure he understood my comment to him as I finally understood Roger’s comment to me.

Parenting isn’t easy.

I’m sure my mom and dad would agree with me after raising three boys and one daughter.

I love and cherish my mom. But our relationship wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. It reminded me of a Dutch saying I have hanging on my wall:

5 jaar:
Mijn mammie kan Alles!

10 jaar:
Mama weet natuurlijk ook niet alles.

15 jaar:
Daar heeft mijn Moeder totaal geen verstand van.

18 jaar:
Mijn Moeder heeft belachelijke antieke ideeën.

25 jaar:
Ik moet eerst mijn Moeder eens om raad vragen.

35 jaar:
Hoe zou Moeder dit probleem oplossen?

50 jaar:
Mijn Moeder? Die had letterlijk overal verstand van.

Loosely translated it means:

5 years:
My mommy can do anything!

10 years:
Mama doesn’t know everything, of course.

15 years:
My Mother has no knowledge of that at all.

18 years:
My Mother has ridiculous antique ideas.

25 years:
First I have to ask my Mother for advice.

35 years:
How would Mother solve this problem?

50 years:
My Mother? She literally understood everything.

In the Bible, one of the 10 commandments is to honor our parents.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Exodus 201:12, NIV)

Now that I am over 50 years old, I have returned to that same 10-year-old belief that Mom understands all kinds of situations and cares if anything is wrong.

I look forward to the day when my own children will honor me in the same way.