Last night I attended a lecture at Porter-Gaud that was co-sponsored by Pinewood. The lecture was titled "Raising Children in Challenging Times", and while I thought I might learn more if it were titled "Raising Challenging Children in Challenging (or not-so-challenging) Times, I went anyway and I am SOOOOO glad I did.
The lecture was presented by Robert Evans, Ph.D., of Wellesley, MA. This guy is so funny and smart and wise about parenting, and I want him to move in with us. He can bring his wife and kids and grandkids, too, but he needs to live with me.
Seriously.
I have been in a funk lately with regards to rearing my precious bundle of love, aka Mac, and really needed to hear what he said tonight. The pressure of single parenting is tough and my hat is off to anybody who does it for longer than this measly year term I'm currently serving. It is a thankless, exhausting job from which you emerge battle-weary and scarred after hearing your 7 year-old tell you that "it's always all about you, Mom". Your tongue has permanent teeth marks from where you've bitten it in order to not list all the ways that it's not all about me, Mac. And then I must contend with Mac's perception of his absent father who with each passing day of absence, apparently grows more powerful and important and funny and sportier and smarter than dear old Mom who's at home trying hard to keep those home fires burning.
But I digress.
Back to Dr. Evans.
Nothing he said is earth-shattering or groundbreaking, which is exactly what reassured me. I am doing at least some of this stuff right (or at least adequately) and it was just nice to hear confirmation that age-old, tried-and-true, consistent parenting works. I kept thinking there was a magic bullet out there that I was missing, but there's not.
But I'd still like him to move him with me so he can keep reminding me...
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