Wednesday, September 13, 2006

well...

It has come to my attention that I have effectively scared someone off of having children with some of my posts.

That is a shame, because said scared person would be missing out on so much. Yes, I often post about the rougher parts of my days, in case someone may want to read about my life and feel better about their own. However, let me touch on a few things that 'person X' would be missing out on:

- a morning wake up call from a small person with cold feet, who loves to climb on to your bed and give kisses to all
- a baby who saves their biggest smiles for their parents
- giggling over bowls of cereal at breakfast, just because
- dancing around the kitchen while emptying the dishwasher together
- going out for walks and getting to see the world through young eyes again
- being asked for extra cuddles at naptime "please don't go mom/dad, just 2 more minutes"
- getting to play video games with your child, may Ms. PacMan never die
- the sound of a young voice saying prayers with you at bedtime
- amazing questions about life, God, birds and directions
- a small hand reaching out to hold yours
- watching a pair of siblings discover the joy in being each other's friend
- the fun of trying not to laugh when your child does something inappropriate, yet hilarious
- having someone think you are the most wonderful person ever
- the excitement generated by hearing the words "is that your dad I see pulling into the driveway?"
- little feet running through your house
- kisses and hugs given freely
- checking in on sleeping children as you go to bed, they look so young and small in their beds, yet you know that these moments will last such a short time and before you know it, they will be grown

I wouldn't trade those things, and more, for anything. Besides, messes get cleaned up, temper tantrums are handled, boo boos heal...but children touch your heart in ways you never knew possible.

I would have such an empty life without them.
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5 comments:

Tammi said...

Me neither!!!

12:38 p.m.
Mo the Mama said...

Same thing here! It's hard but worth every bit of work. When I walk through town or the mall and people look at me like I'm insane with a child holding each hand and one in the baby carrier I just think, "if only everyone could experience the joys of parenthood." Even when they are covered in a whole bottle of canola oil...or especially when!

1:36 p.m.
Bonniebean said...

Person X would miss my favorite thing: kissing a giggling small person, and then getting to laugh together when the small person says "More! More!" over and over again. :)

10:54 a.m.
Corie said...

Not to be the wet blanket of the bunch, but I can see how PersonX would get that. Parenthood is VERY tough. WAY tougher than I thought it would ever be. To do over, I'd think harder about it before jumping in. JMO.

8:13 p.m.
BL said...

In a nutshell...I think of two things when I think about this balance. One is that I read somewhere (and I agree) that in order to have the greatest capacity for good, one will have the same capacity for ill. This was in a discussion about religion and free-will and why there is pain, but I find it relevant here. You have to be willing to let your heart break and work hard to be open to the great rewards and joys available. The offshoot of that is that I've struggled with depression for years, and many of the meds I've tried have rendered me numb. They'd take away the awful, but also the good. It wasn't worth it. The treatment I'm on now doesn't eliminate the depression, but manages it, but I CAN STILL FEEL so it's worth it. So while I can certainly understand the fear and difficulty of it all, I also pity the middle ground and those who are so afraid of the hard part that they never get the joy. Well so much for a nutshell...hope that all made sense.

2:11 p.m.

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