Parenting – The Hardest Job You Will Ever Love

“The U.S. Army – The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love”. 

I remember when that slogan was used in their recruiting ads on television and radio several years ago.  I’m afraid they were mistaken, however.  Theirs would be the second hardest job in my opinion.  Being a parent would be the first.  It is a lot of work! 

·                     It is 24/7 – 365 days a year (366 if it’s a leap year) with no paid holidays or vacations.

·                     The pay is terrible, in fact it costs you money!  In order to support this job you will need another one.

·                     There are no promotions, no ladders to climb for a better position.

·                     You are in it for life and there is no retirement package at the end.

·                     Like the Army this job will test you, both physically and emotionally, in ways you never imagined.

·                     There are no procedure manuals; you will have to figure it out on your own.  No drill sergeant to train you for endurance and no instructors to fine tune you either.

·                     You are going to make mistakes – a lot of them.

·                     Just when you think you are getting the hang of it you’ll find out you don’t.

·                     You will be extremely under-appreciated most of the time.

·                     There is no one on Earth who can do it quite like you can.  No substitute will ever be able to fill your shoes.

·                     You can never quit. 

No one in their right mind would take a job like this if offered by an employer, but instead we create it for ourselves and can’t imagine not doing so.  In fact, most families create this job multiple times over. 

Nonetheless, we eagerly and excitedly sign up for this job and we love it!  Can’t imagine not having it (maybe some days we might think about it) and look forward to it every day.  In fact, we stand back and look at our children and thank God, for we are truly blessed. 

Every day we are given the opportunity to begin our job anew, to do better than the day before.  We learn more, we do more, we try harder and the greatest reward is the love that grows as a result of all your efforts.  Just when you think you couldn’t possibly love your children any more you wake to find you do.  It just keeps growing. 

So to all those parents out there - hang in there.  It isn’t almost over!  Not by a long shot.