Parent: \’per-ənt\ noun – One that brings forth offspring; a person who brings up, rears, trains or raises a child.
Since moving into our apartment several months ago, we’ve had birds build nests on top of the shudders of our windows. It’s no big deal. In fact, it’s kinda cool to lay in bed on a Saturday morning and just watch the mom and dad fly in and out, taking care of the birds in the nest. As it is, I can’t help but see the similarities between parents, baby birds and the nest to parents, teenagers, and home.
First, the order the eggs are laid in, is the order in which they hatch. Ergo, older children and younger children. Both parents care for their young, which also works best for parents of children. Females show more care for the young after birth. Males provide food at first. (OK, so that doesn’t really fly (pun intended) with nursing moms, but, whatever.) Parents control the allocation of food, changing positions if necessary to ensure all offspring have an equal chance of survival.
The parents are probably a bit stressed as the chicks near independence and leaving the nest as they aren't as easy to protect as they were in the nest. They know that leaving the nest too early can be hazardous to the birds’ health. It may be seriously injured as it falls from the nest, not ready to or knowing how to fly on its own yet. It also becomes easy prey for predators, defenseless as it stumbles around on its own for the first time. Being away from the nest also makes it more difficult for its parents to feed it and protect it from danger.
Even still, baby birds often fly out of the nest before they can fly back to it. The father takes a couple of weeks to teach the babies how to survive, which may contribute elevated stress levels for the mother. But, the father will look after the babies until they become more independent.
Can you relate to any of this? I know that for me, it was fairly easy to “leave the nest.” For others, I know it’s more difficult. When kids first leave the “nest”, they are more susceptible to doing stupid things. But, if they have been “trained up in the way they should go, even when they are old, they will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
To parents who still have children living in your “nest”, these are critical years in developing your children. What can you do today to shape their tomorrow? What can you teach them now that they can apply when it comes time to leaving the nest? What can you do to better equip them for adulthood?
If you can become your child’s hero now, they will become your best friend as an adult. Let me challenge you with this question: Are you your child’s parent, or are you just the biggest person living in your home?
