As I watch Shayne and Sabrina parent their own children, I often find myself drifting back in time. Back to when Nagib and I were raising them. And even further back – to how we ourselves were parented.
And what strikes me most is this.
Everything has changed. And some things are timeless.
Today’s parents are navigating a world of: sleep schedules, screen time, emotional regulation, parenting podcasts, Google searches, AI advice, developmental milestones, organic snacks and toddlers who sometimes feel – and are – smarter than you
Children today are photographed approximately 6,000 times before kindergarten. Meanwhile, when we were parenting, half our photos were blurry and someone’s finger was over the camera lens.
And our parents? Honestly, I know people from my parents’ generation who didn’t even realize they were pregnant until they gave birth. There were no pregnancy apps telling you the baby was “the size of a mango. No baby monitors. No sleep consultants. No “wake windows.” Children rolled freely around the backseat because there were no seat-belts
Our parents’ generation often relied on instinct, prayer, and occasionally yelling from another room. If we were upset, there was a decent chance someone told us to wash our face, and sent us outside to play. If you swore, it was possible for your mom to put chillies in your mouth. And somehow, we survived.
Every generation parents through the lens of the world they inherited. And every generation quietly judges the generation before and after them, until they become parents themselves.
And then comes the humbling realization.
Most parents are simply trying to love their children well with the information, tools, pressures, and realities of their time.
Some things we now know better.
Some things we overcomplicate.
Some things we romanticize about the past.
And some things remain timeless:
- wanting our children to feel safe
- wanting them to be kind
- wanting them to thrive
- wanting them to know they are deeply loved
What becoming a grandparent has given me is perspective.
I now watch my children navigate parenthood with the same love, exhaustion, worry, hope, and occasional improvisation that we once did. And I see traces of us in them. And traces of my parents in me.
And somehow love keeps traveling forward through generations. Motherhood has taught me many things. But perhaps the greatest lesson is this. There are no perfect parents. Only human beings trying to love another human being well. And maybe that has always been enough.
Happy Mother’s Day ??
