I went for a walk with my son the other night and we stopped at our neighbor’s house. They also have a little boy the same age as mine. While the boys were playing, my neighbor was telling me about her brother. He is a newlywed, and every time he visits he gets a little freaked out by the whole family scene with little kids. He says he wants kids someday, but when he is in the middle of the reality, it is a bit overwhelming.
I can remember those days. The prospect of becoming a parent can be scary for some. I always knew I would have kids, but my husband was a little more terrified than I. My biological clock was very strong. I would not feel complete without a baby coming through my birth canal. Giving birth was the only thing that would switch off my biological clock.
Now that I have three kids and they are all old enough to reason and somewhat take care of their own basic needs, I can look back and remember what things were like. The only thing is I can’t truely remember exactly what it was like. That is the funny thing. I can vividly recollect the times when I thought I would not make it through the metaphoric deep valley I was in at the time. And then I would resurface and be on top of the world again. My mind erases or blurs the picture a little bit.
What I would like to tell those folks out there like my neighbor’s brother. You are not thrown into parenting all of a sudden. It is not sink or swim. Each stage prepares you for the next. You just need to keep your head on straight and know that once you hit the lowest low, you will start moving up again. Being a parent is challenging, don’t get me wrong, but you can take it in stride. Laughing a lot helps wonders.
