CELEBRATING OUR PARENT

It is disheartening to note that over 50% of people fail to celebrate their parent. This phenomenon is the order of the day in our civilized world today. Most people are trapped in the Rate Race of life i.e. fighting hard to make ends meet, which include the need to make adequate provisions for food, shelter, security, education, etc. neglecting their other responsibility of taking proper care of their parent. This involuntary neglect shown to parent by their children steals away the joy of fulfillment from parent and set them on the path of regret since a major part of their lives were invested in the proper upbringing of their children to maturity.

A person’s father or mother is referred to as parent according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (7th Edition). A parent could either be biological or foster. It could also be one-parent family, single parent or step parent. Whatever the case may be, their roles are the same, which are to introduce children into planet earth via birth, nurture them via adequate nutrition, reprove them when necessary, and educate them formally and to point them in the right direction to follow in life until maturity is attained.

However, very few people understand why parent are worth celebrating. Parent are worthy of celebration from their children because, there would be no children if not for their collective decision to have them i.e. the life these children live today is as a result of the responsible decision taken by their parent years ago. Considering the stress and lengthy period of 9 months the mother must carry the unborn child in her womb until when due and the pains of delivery in the labor room, without a doubt our parent are worth celebrating.

Another reason parent is worth celebrating is the enormous task of child raising, which takes a lot of time, money, and effort. Child raising is very stressful because, it steals away sleep from the parent, consumes a lot of money especially when the child is ill and drains much energy from the parent through consistent protection of the child from danger. For example, back in 2004, I cannot forget the rigorous stress I must have put my parent through when I needed to make my first tertiary school fees payment to secure my admission, which had a dead line of 1 week. My parent had to go as far as selling off valuable assets to ensure my admission was unhindered. I thank them always for the price they paid for my formal education. Also according to the Bible, celebrating our parent secures long life for us i.e. if you as their offspring desire to live a long and a healthy life, you must endeavor to celebrate them no matter how little it may seem.

Celebrating our parent in most cases, costs little or nothing. Its’ all about showing them you care and appreciating their collective effort in shaping you into the person you are today, which will in turn gladden their hearts with excitement of being fulfilled as your parent. We can celebrate our parent by making a simple phone call across to them daily when we are away; by organizing a get together party on their behalf to acquaint them with our families, achievements, failures and other valuable lessons life has taught us. Also surprising them with special gifts is one of the most effective way to show them that they are worthy of celebration. Whenever, I send funds across to my mother to celebrate her motherhood, the excitement with which she showers blessings on me is beyond words – it gives me a feeling of giving back to those who took proper care of me from infancy to adulthood.

Celebrating our parent is not limited to only festive periods neither is it limited to summer, winter or autumn. It should be a way of life, something we do every day consciously or unconsciously because, we have such a limited time frame to show them all the love and care in the world we can offer to them before they say their final goodbye to us.

You don’t need a special location to celebrate your parent though, its quiet fun and memorable to do so but, it’s not a must to have a fixed location to express to them your gratitude. Don’t put yourself under pressure to go for what you can’t afford in the process of celebrating your parent. Your parent can enjoy the celebration with you anywhere provided its safe, which may include; a garden, an open field, a park, an exquisite restaurant/hotel or even a vacation to a new environment.

Finally, life is a matter of choice i.e. whether you chose to celebrate your parent or not, it is still your decision to make but, note that it will cost you less to celebrate them, while on the other hand, the cost for not celebrating your parent is very high because, someday you will have to reap what you sow according to the laws of nature.

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@henroo84