Heartbreak and Hugs

I know many of you are fans of Disney's "Good Luck Charlie." 

I watched my first episode this week, and I have to admit, it made me a little weepy and it's made me think.

Charlie is a little girl, well toddler, that is part of a family with much older siblings including a teenage girl, Teddy.  In the episode I saw, Charlie meets Teddy's new boyfriend and doesn't like him on the spot. She continually tries to send Teddy signals by biting, hitting and glaring at her new boyfriend.  In the end, the older sister finds out her new love is cheating with another girl and becomes brokenhearted.

At the end of each "Charlie", the family records a video message for her to watch when she grows up.  In this episode, Charlie's mom is holding a crying Teddy as she looks at the camera and says "Hey Charlie, your sister just got her first heartbreak."  The teen looks at her mom and says: "What!?  The first?  You mean there will be more!?"

(Teddy goes on to say it's too bad that Charlie won't have a little sister to look out for her when Charlie's her age.  Of course, I found that part so sweet...  The similarities between the show and Bells and Jules isn't lost on me.)

But the lesson here was something I've been thinking about lately.

How sweet and naive that Teddy hadn't considered that there would be more heartbreak in her life.  That's how kids are, right?  Especially teens.  They just don't think bad things will happen to them.  That's when it gets tricky for we parents.  They look like adults on the outside, but on the inside they are still little.  They need our leadership and guidance at this point more than ever!

Our kids will have heartbreak, and it's all a part of learning and living life.  No matter how much we may want to take pain away from them, it's just as important for them to learn from their mistakes as it is for you to let them make them.  And, I think it's important that we don't try to take away all of their burdens, No matter how hard it is, I think some burdens are theirs to bear alone.  You can intervene and give advice, but at some point, it's up to them.  (Mistakes and burdens aren't always the same thing either, but at this age, they can be.)

It's the trials in life that make us who we are, and overcoming them is what gives us the strength to carry our burdens and help others carry theirs.  So many times, our trials end up being our greatest blessings.

All you can do is hold them and tell them that everything will be okay, because eventually and always, it will be.

Wow, I have so much to learn about raising children.  Ready or not, here come my teenagers!

(And what a great show  "Good Luck Charlie" is!  Love it now.)