Growing Pains

A while back, one of my kids had a horrible, no good, very bad day. Okay, it wasn’t as bad as all that, but he went through some growing pains. He had to confront a challenge and, mom that I am, I ached all day until he got home, hoping he had gotten through it with no more holes in his heart or pride.

He did get through it, and he grew because of it. It’s funny, because the day before I would’ve given so much to erase this challenge and to protect him from all and any pain, but it ended up being important for his emotional growth.  I’m so proud of him. He’s stronger, deeper, and wiser than I realized.

I thought about this again tonight as I wrote a scene. I was thinking about how nobody would ever read a book about a character with a perfect life. No conflict equals no growth… equals uninspiring. My child grew, inspired me, and helped me to grow, too.

*I shared this post with him, and he gave me permission to use it :-)