It takes a village ... yeah, right ... where are "they"????

Sorry, this is one more rant, but honestly, the human race is sometimes so mystifying. All you single parents out there, if you're reading this, comment, tell me what you think.

You raise kids on your own (1, 2, 3, more) ... maybe you're even Jon and Kate plus 8 ... okay, forget that, Kate has Jon. You try to make all the right moves, do all the right things, warn them, reassure them, comfort them, scare them, build them up, tear them down, whatever it takes to make sure these people who sprang from your body will have a "happy" life. What does that mean anyway? There I am getting off-track. Sorry. Then they're adults in the eyes of the world, and everyone ... and I do mean EVERYONE ... starts telling you what you've done wrong, where you went wrong, what you said wrong, and they're all Oprah-watchers, Dr. Phil adherents. Oh, yes, they've listened to every talk show about 'how to be a good parent'. Only one big problem: They've never been one!!!!

I did that, too, before I had children, but I have a good excuse: I was young. The younger you are, the more sure you are that you know what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, what's right, what's WRONG ... whoops, there's that word again. The older you get, the less you know, the less sure you feel about almost everything.

All right, I'm back on topic. Where were "they"? When you needed someone at the end of the day just to have adult human interaction with, where were "they"? When you could have used an hour off, someone else driving them to a swimming lesson, a tutoring session, or just taking them to the park, where were "they"? Nowhere to be seen. But, come the day that you think you can rest on your laurels ... oh yeah, I've got laurels ... and say, I've done the best I can, they turned out pretty well, along "they" come. I guess I've finally figured out who "they" are, that mystical question we all ask ourselves when someone says, "Who are they anyway?"

"They", for all of you who want to know, are the ones who are quick to step up to the plate when the job is done, the work has been completed, you're covered in sweat and dirt and grime and guilt, and say, "What were you thinking?" Thank God for "they". Maybe it was, in fact, God who created "they". Who else could it have been?

Well, in answer to all the "they", I give back a cliche of my own, "Walk a mile in my shoes", and I mean it. Walk a day, walk a week, walk a year, where you have no one to turn to, you have small beautiful faces looking to you for food, guidance, shelter, love, comfort, and when you fall into bed at the end of the day so drained that you think you cannot possibly get through another day, look into their faces, those beautiful faces that encompass all the love the world has to offer, and feel free to tell me what I did wrong. And, you know what, "they", until you can do that, GO AWAY!!!