“Mercy.”

Quick Question:

Are you one of the oldest of your parents’ kids? How does that feel?

Do you feel like your parents were harder on you in comparison to your younger siblings?

If the answer is yes, you’re definitely not alone!

Like other older daughters (and siblings), I noticed the difference between how ‘strict‘ my parents raised me in comparison to my younger siblings. It’s like they were less strict with my younger siblings but harder on me as the older daughter.

I was actually having this conversation with my cousin and we discussed how differently parents raise their older kids in comparison to their younger kids.

He made a very good point that the first kid is like the ‘trial and error’ kid just because he/she is the first child of the parents.

Because of that … there should be room for mercy. Prior to this conversation we had, I never thought about it like that; he opened my eyes to a new perspective.

I believe that the topic of ‘mercy’ is worth mentioning because it relates to forgiveness.

I realized that while growing up, I was focusing only on my perspective while not considering how my parents felt being new parents. Does that make sense?

I wasn’t being open-minded about their situation-only my own. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that they were ‘new’ to this.

There is no way you can 100 percent be ready for parenthood.

How could I not show mercy to the people who brought me into this world?

Mercy includes kindness, compassion, love, tolerance, and patience with people (Merriam-Webster).

This conversation I had was meaningful because it really made me ponder on the question of: “how merciful am I to my parents? How merciful am I to others?”

Note that when parents have their first kids, they are learning how to be parents.

My cousin made an important point stating that, if we want our future offspring to show mercy to us, then we should have mercy on our parents; it’s only right.

Overall, if we want to be more open-minded, we have to be willing to be merciful to people because they are learning.

Often times we can be short-tempered and impatient- but that isn’t fair because we know we wouldn’t want the same energy returned to us.

Everyone you meet will know something you don’t. Likewise, everyone who meets you may not know something you know. So be kind and show mercy to others.

-ABH