The Things We Do For Our Kids

I'm not talking about 9 months of pregnancy, weight gain, puking, hours of labor, breastfeeding, thrush, mastitis, etc. I could go on and on. I'll let those things slide for today. Besides, when I try to bring that up, my kids just roll thier eyes. The universal sign for "My mom is so weird." I'm talking about the other stuff we do that they just don't notice.
This weekend was a prime example. My second son started playing lacrosse this year. This is very new for me. I've never been much of a 'soccer mom'. Our kids have played sports a little, but it's been quite a while. And, they were playing city rec sports, high school is a whole different story. J is on the jv team and Saturday was his first two real games- in Idaho. Yup, 2 hours away. AND, they played two games, several hours apart. We left at 7am and got home at 10pm. When you factor in gas and food, the day cost us almost $100. Of course, those are the kinds of things kids are oblivious to. The important thing for J was that we were there to see him play.
We were happy to do it. Could we afford it? Not really. But, that's what being a parent is about, isn't it? Making unnoticed sacrifices for our children. I think it's a good thing they don't know how very much we love them and how far we'd go to make them happy. If they did, they might take advantage of that fact.

It's a time honored tradition, I've found. Our parents did it for us. If you don't remember the sacrifices they made, that's because you're still living behind the veil of childhood that hides those things from us. Here's an example. When I was in high school, my sister, Marsha, and I were on the drill team. My sophmore (her senior) year, my dad was out of work, the whole year. Needless to say, things were tight. A few years ago, my sister said something about how dad would come to our performances at the basketball games and how humbling it must've been. "What are you talking about?" I asked her. "You didn't know?" No, I didn't know that my

dad would walk down to the high school (we lived in a tiny town) for half time. I didn't know that the people who took the money would let him in for free. I didn't know that he would watch every performance then walk back home again. I knew that he loved me. Obviously, I didn't know how much.

So, now when I make those sacrifices for my kids, it's ok that they don't know. Someday, they will. Maybe they'll realize as they look back. Or, maybe they'll understand when they make those same sacrifices for their children. It doesn't matter, though. I'd do it anyway. I'm not doing it for recognition. I just want them to be happy. Sounds like another Parent, doesn't it?