Parenting is like a garden.

Yay for me! I finally got my paper done. Once I sat down and actually started thinking, it went pretty fast. I can now enjoy my Thanksgiving break without having that looming over me.

So my idea was... Parenting is like a garden, the children are the plants. The sun is like time and attention from parents. Children needs lots of good quality attention like plants need lots of good quality sun. Shade is the break from parents or the need to not be constantly hovering over children. The soil is like good communication. Fertilizers added to the soil are like extracurricular activities and church involvement. The roots are based on the give and take from parents to child and child to parents. A good stake to help support the plant is like a good parenting style or authoritative parenting. Water is like rituals and traditions within the family, both on a daily basis and with holidays and special events. The consistency of water, soil, and sun is likened to the consistency of attention, communication, and rituals for children. Weather is like struggles children go through. When they are young, it is good to coach them through struggles but constantly "saving" them from their problems will make them weak and unable to weather life's storms. Basically gardening is a journey and if it's done well, the rewards are great and lessons are learned. Just like a garden, parenting is lots of hard work but well worth the effort. That is a very brief synopsis of my paper. Sorry I just had to share, I thought the assignment was really quite interesting once I started doing it and maybe a little fun. Haha.

Have I mentioned I miss our garden?