Other Ways

When the baby was a baby
The dilemmas were small
How to change a diaper
Or how long to bounce the ball.

Then, the baby started to toddle
And with that came playschool
Now the dilemmas grew
To what was, or was not cool.

Then, through the years of learning
Grades, or satisfaction?
How much to command, how much
to let them use their own discretion.

Then the career, and the relationship
And the dilemmas change
How much do they share with you
Or let you re-arrange?

Then your baby has a baby
Suddenly you're promoted
To 'grandparent' but your techniques
Are considered outmoded.

Through it all, a parent wonders
Are there other ways?
Should I modernise with the times
Or insist the tradition stays?

Wouldn't it be nice to have
A magic wand to wave
To solve the dilemmas at each turn
From the crib to the grave?

To let the magic do the work
To let the magic think
To let the magic make decisions
And do the washing in the sink!

If every problem could just be solved
With the utterance of a word
Wouldn't we have an easy life
Sighing and groaning never heard?

But that doesn't seem to be the way
Our inner peace to find
We need to struggle for our happiness
With our heart, our soul, our mind.