My parents have been making life easier for me my whole life. And given the chance, I intend to do the same for their grandchildren.
Not “easy.” My parents did not overprotect me. They did not swoop in to solve all my problems for me. They did not try to shield me from real life. They did not try to make life artificially painless.
My Parents Made Life Easier. They still do.
When I text them and ask, “Do you know where I can get some good boxes to use for charitable clothing donations?” my mom shoots back, “We’ve got some in the attic. I’ll bring them for you.” And then they show up in the back seat of my car in the church parking lot. (The boxes, not my parents.)
When I’m pretty sure I’ve blown out the gears on my hand mixer while making a double batch of caramel buttercream, I send it (the mixer, not the buttercream) to my dad to confirm its demise, which he does…and then an hour later, an article about “best hand mixers including some that can handle bread dough” shows up in my email in-box.
When my husband and I needed backups to get busy children from where they were to where they needed to be, with dinner and a stop at home to change clothes in between, my parents jumped into the gap and kept things humming along.
They’ve made life easier by doing things for me that I can do for myself. (I can get my own boxes.)
They’ve made life easier by doing things for me I can’t do for myself. (I can’t add a new outlet on our enclosed front porch to plug in the string lights. But my dad can. And did. Thanks, Dad.)
