In my experience we should be looking at parenting from a seasonal point of view, because we are constantly changing and so is everything and everyone around us. As babies, they need us for every single thing to sustain life and can give us nothing in return. It’s the season where they are in your arms more than anyplace else.
When your children are young and underfoot and it is so hard to be okay with sharing 100% of yourself every single day, it can help to recognize that this is a season, a tough one, but temporary. This is the one when they need your eyes.
When your pre-teen corrects every sentence you utter with, “Actually….” and has to tell you each detail about the book they are reading, it can help to remember it’s a short season. Suddenly they are teens with few words, most of which are negative and challenging. Again, a season. These are the ones when they need your ears.
Friends tell me that as they grow up and leave home, our children still need us for buffering and guidance, for bouncing off ideas big and small. I’m hoping this is a long season of needing my time.
Although each season is so different, each one needs your heart, the same one that dreamed and planned long ago. And when we view our children as being in a season, it can be easier to respond kindly to the stranger who knows just how quickly time really does fly.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
howsyourlovelife 
This is a really beautiful post! A helpful way to reframe our parenting challenges. Already the first two months of Sam’s life seem like they went quickly…in hindsight!
It’s crazy, isn’t it?