Your kids do not owe you their life. It is wonderful and quite fine to have their allegiance and their attention, but, to force it because you need attention is not the thing to do. I know this, I preach and teach this and yet here I am feeling abandoned and neglected because of all of the grandchildren that I have (and there are more than a dozen) and for all of the money I have spent on this Christmas (and it is quite a bit) there is not one kid, there is not one grandchild, there is not one family member who could grace me with their presence on Christmas Eve.
Usually, in families of our size there is at least one ‘sacrificial lamb’ who will keep the parents entertained at the behest of all of the other siblings. This year, in both of our families (mine and my husband’s) our sacrificial lamb (normally the youngest sibling) got busy by having their own child. My husband’s youngest daughter had a second son in August and my youngest son had a daughter in November. As I have avoided all of the complicated questions around aging (Are you relevant? Will you be alone? Is there enough money?) I now find myself smack-dab in the conversation because here we are, alone on Christmas Eve.
I think it is probably fitting that this thing has happened to us because of all of the preaching and teaching I have been doing. ‘You teach best, what you most need to learn.’