Please do as I say

You've heard the lines I know you have
Do as I say not as I do!
So easy to say and not so easy to do!
Being a parent is such a tough job
Being a grandparent is no easier!
Yes, you get to hand them back
At the end of the day, but how do you cope?
When you see the other things at play?
How to listen with understanding?
When you see they've gone astray?
How to cope when you see your own child?
No longer your little one
But grown beyond your grasp
That determined streak
That wants to play with fire!
Not listening to your desire!
Giving in to that bleak sin
Wanting to feel on fire!
Wanting to go there again
To feel that strongest urge
To do what's not the best
How do you cope with the knowing?
With the fear inside that
One day it may be your turn
To hear those awful tearing words
"I'm sorry Mrs Anderson; But your son/daughter
Didn't make it through the night"
Be it drugs or speeding car
Or operation in the hospital?
How do you cope with the scars?
That tear you apart inside?
The ones that nobody actually sees?
How do you impart that searing hurt to them?
Before the time really comes
To send them off alone
Into that empty space of memory
That will never fade for you!