The Middles

Na'arah = young lady. With two daughters plunging into double digits, I'm reminded of a quote that I chant to myself almost every single day. "I think middles are middles. In the beginning of parenting, the exhaustion is mitigated by the excitement and hope of all new beginnings. Plus baby cuteness. At the end, the burdens of young adult issues and the poignancy of growing up and parting are mitigated by the amazement and joy of seeing who your children have become, and hopefully some relief from the daily parenting press. In the middle you don't have either of those, and it's time for getting up every day and faithfully going on - perseverance, laying down your life, and the weariness of feeling like you're saying the same thing over and over, and yes, to people who don't seem to like all that much a lot of times. But there in that vital crucible of the middle, people are being shaped and formed. In the middle, children are being crafted into beautiful vessels - and so are their parents." Kristin Wong