Parenting Article:

Every Age and Stage Gets Better and Better...

By: Fiona O'Dowd

A few years ago, during my careferee pre-school-mummy days, I found myself at a park with the kids having yet another fabulous playtime... almost a daily event back then.

On this particular day, my bag with car keys disappeared and I was left with no way to get the kids home once the cold storm-front hit.

My saving grace was a gorgeous woman with fantastic long, red, wild and curly hair and her older primary school aged son who kindly drove us home to collect the spare car keys and return us to collect the car...

We spoke briefly as old friends on our first and only meeting.

She offered her unsolicited soul-quenching wisdom...

Maybe she sensed my desperation to hold on to the "little kid" years; my deep fear of "losing" my kids to school life - and perhaps she saw the sadness in my eyes that I was going to be unable to recall every drop of sweetness of our ordinary everyday extraordinary adventures...

"It just keeps getting better," she offered, "I know it's hard to believe, but every age and every stage just gets better and better, richer and richer. It seems impossible, but you will find the love only grows and deepens"

And then she was gone out of my life, never to be seen again.

It's not often I've reflected on that chance meeting years ago, but I guess I have often revisited her philosophy and the beautiful, simple truth of it.

Sometimes we feel the deepening in a magical moment, sometimes it creeps up on us and takes our breath away...

During the past few days, I have stood in awe and witnessed both the beautiful souls who are my children expand so much further out into the world.

I have observed their gift of joy reach out and touch others, and my heart has sung as I have watched them drink and savour the joys of others.

Their interactions grow in complexity while their hearts, minds and bodies develop and mature.

And the warm-hearted, red-headed woman couldn't be more right...

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