Here’s To The Parents

(My daughter and her first daughter, two of the blessings of my life.)

Here’s to the hard working fathers,

to all whose collars are rarely white.

To the ones who love and value their families,

and rush to get home every night.

To those who work outside all week,

rain or shine, out in it every day,

those whose blood, sweat and tears

speak much louder than,

any words they can ever say.

Here’s to the parents making time to listen,

to a child talking nonstop, without much of a point.

To all who bow their heads to pray,

every day,

all who try so hard to not disappoint,

the ones relying on them and their character.

To all of you striving to do your best.

All who keep going when the going gets tough,

and keep on working without enough rest.

Here’s to the parents who soldier on, battling,

to set good examples, models for the youth.

To you who have no trouble knowing the difference

between lying to someone and telling the truth.

The times you are praised by others for it all,

might seem too far between and too few,

but this nation, most nations were founded on,

the hard working, honest, decent people like you.

Here’s to all of you doing the right things,

without you this nation won’t truly succeed.

So here’s to you and to all your kinfolk who,

taught you everything you’d one day need.

Here’s to the single moms, doing double time,

working jobs whether at home or away.

The ones staying up late packing those lunches,

and trying to decide on which bill they can pay.

The moms who gladly forego glitz and glamour,

to build snow forts and help their kids fly kites.

Here’s to the moms that are nursing sick children,

checking the foreheads all through some long nights.

Here’s to the moms right now in mismatched socks,

she whose nails are more chipped than they’re polished.

The mom’s who repeat the alphabet

repeatedly,

teaching each child,

until their last nerve’s about been demolished.

To the moms busy preparing a big meal,

when frozen pizza would surely suffice.

To those who know teenagers won’t listen,

but still,

stop their kids to repeat good advice.

Your daily acts may not seem a big deal,

but each child observes and they’ll imitate.

So when they have children of their own,

it’ll be your good example that they will emulate.

To the parents who match socks by the hundreds,

and wash dish after dish after dish….

for allowing sleepovers (lord love ya’),

and lighting candles yearly so they can make a wish.

To those who read the same bedtime stories fifty times,

for all the sports practices and games you attended,

for dentist visits, vaccinations, school supplies,

you bought,

from teacher’s lists that somehow never ended.

To every time you didn’t yell at your child,

when you nearly did (because they’d surely earned it.)

To the addition, subtraction, multiplication tables,

you flash carded for weeks and weeks until they learned it.

To the buttons sewn on, the sloppy science projects,

for each single thing they lost that YOU somehow found.

For wearing earplugs when their friends came over,

not yelling in front of them,but opting to just block the sound.

For all the sleepless nights you endured for years,

all the tears you wiped away when they were hurt.

For all you parents who encouraged creativity,

curiosity,

and allowed them to run and roll ‘round in the dirt.

May you know, ‘though the world may not stress it,

that each little thing you did with love in your heart,

to raise and nurture your unique children, mattered,

so much !

You gave them a balanced, secure, loving start.

Until a person’s been a parent, they don’t know,

how much devotion doing a good job requires.

But it’s why good people still exist in this world,

why everyone’s not violent abusers, users and liars.

Given the gift of a screaming infant, these parents,

you parents,

took on the job and you filled it with joy.

You got up every day, did what you needed to do,

for that teen drama queen, for that rambunctious boy.

You hugged them, you loved them, bandaged boo boos,

taught them to be responsible and how to be kind.

Here’s to all you parents hard at work each day,

I applaud you and I pray,

you make it through it without losing your mind.

(lol…. just kidding there)

Kathleen Hussey August 2022