Recipe For A Lifetime

How do you raise a successful adult? How do you do it?

Well, the recipe is an old one. It started about 20 years ago ...

Staggering out of bed for night feeds and colic, earache and the "There's a monster in my bedroom" cry.

Washing bucket-loads of nappies and being grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing.

Exulting over the first smile, the first tooth, the first steps - to independence.

Hearing those immortal words at 2am, "I've just been sick all over my bed."

Hanging kindy paintings around the kitchen, and knowing you would not exchange them for a fortune.

Wiping away the tears on the first day at school - your tears, not your child's!

Running as fast as you can alongside a 2-wheeler bike with a rider-out-of-control.

Forcing yourself to stay calm as your precious child goes under the anaesthetic for an operation.

Containing the excitement on baptismal day, and being grateful for the supporting team of Primary teachers and Youth leaders.

Getting sore knees from praying so often to know how to deal with squabbles and other family 'interactions'.

Smiling encouragement through swimming lessons and piano practice, self-defence classes and school talks.

Coping with illness and unemployment, and wondering what effects they will have on your family.

Shouting yourself hoarse at school sports days and swimming events, running races and basket-ball matches.

Paying for weeding and floor washing that you could do better yourself in half the time, just to give the experience of paying tithing.

Juggling temple sessions with visits to swimming pools, museums, parks and the zoo, to make memorable holidays near the temple.

Making roomfuls of pizzas and cream cakes, and selling them in the hot sun at gala days for school funds.

Risking the walk across a cluttered bedroom floor that should only be attempted by a junk-shop owner with life insurance.

Dragging yourself away from your child's exhibit at the craft show, when all you want to do is shout, "Look at what my child has done!"

Racing against the clock to get away from work and rush to school interviews, after-class sports, and the Christmas concert.

Using those teaching moments while walking home, or in the car, to discuss food storage and family history, nuclear warfare and the difference between inspiration and imagination.

Worrying into the mid-night darkness about the empty bed in the next room, and the choices your child is making - and are those friends really as nice as they seem?

Remembering, with sadness, all the mistakes you and your child have made along the way, but knowing there is not only great love, but also forgiveness - for each other.

Feeling humility as a friend, looking at this fine young person, says, "I'd give 10 years of my life to have a child like that," and you smile and say, "It actually took twice that long!"

Brimming over with happiness in the temple as your grown-up child walks towards you, covered in celestial sunshine.

Managing to smile as you say goodbye at the airport, knowing that the tears will fall later, but leaving a lasting memory of laughter that can be re-called in times of discouragement.

Grateful for a young person able to study, work, play, have good friends and meet the one who will share a life throughout eternity, knowing that we are all threads in the tapestry of time and must weave our life to achieve our highest potential.

Being happy for the life of a successful adult, and covering the sadness and miss-you times with gratitude that the baton of life has been handed in the right way to the next generation, ready to be passed on again in its turn.

This is the recipe. There are as many variations as there are cooks, and the ingredients often vary, but when we follow the guidelines of the Master Chef, the recipe cannot fail.

Olive Redmond May 1999 updated for 28 Sep 2002