We all have selfish needs as parents sometimes, as much as we hate to admit it; we crave things that are solely adult.
The selfish nature of the mother with her head deep in a bucket of chocolate ice cream is no different than the couple who locks the bedroom door, or the woman who steps outside & smokes cigarettes eight times a day, or the father who'd rather have many nights "with the guys" instead of tucking rugrats in. Yes, even the computer geeks who play endless games in front of a screen, the bookworms who get sucked into pages upon pages of tales, the movie-goers who let sitters pay hide & seek and Candyland with their children, who, all the while … are just standing in the shadows making statements like my Alex, who said, "Mama? I wish I could make a metal machine that could make a copy machine that could make a copy of you, so that you could have more time to play with me." (8/16/2008: Or Kaitlyn, who pleads with me before her nap, "Mommy can you sing sunshine?" and when I hesitate – because there is always so much to do – "I've been a good girl.") We are all selfish, but so are our children, who want all of us, all the time. We must find the solution in temperance, and above all, putting our children's needs (though not always their wants) first.
MdC
