I can't tell you how many times we heard that as we prepared to welcome Aubrey into our home. Even back when we were talking about having a baby before we were pregnant people would say how much having a baby changes things. Some of our non-parent acquaintances quote it as a reason why they don't want to have a baby. So now, three months down the parenting road I look back on that statement and think in a way it is true in a way it isn't.
Maybe it is just me but I always anticipate things to the extreme. I would always overprepare for tests in college and then walk out thinking that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. When someone says that labor is the worst pain ever I imagined it as being so awful I would think I was dying. It may be rough, but it isn't the worst you could possibly imagine. When someone says your life will never be the same again I guess I thought that every little aspect would be different. Yes, it is true, things do change, like it taking you longer to get anything done when you are bringing a baby along. But on the other hand we still do what we did before Aubrey joined us. We enjoy going to starbucks, walking in the parks, going out to dinner, visiting with friends, attending church, going shopping, etc. We still do all these things, just now we are three instead of two. I guess maybe if we had been the type of people who liked to go to bars and get drunk all the time and eat at really snooty restaurants and dance in clubs then our lives would have had to make a dramatic change.
So we didn't really have to make the huge adjustments that I thought we would to be parents (which we were so willing to do, by the way). I don't feel like we have had to "give up" anything and our lives have been enriched so much by being a mom and a dad to Aubrey.
Now I know those of you who are more seasoned parents are thinking, "just you wait..." Yeah, yeah, but let us bask in this honeymoon period of parenthood for a little while longer.
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2 comments:
Great perspective on how having a child can only enhance your routines and daily activities and not be too "upsetting the applecart" syndrome! Wish you both all the love and support as things become more challenging in every stage and aspect of raising Aubrey in love and understanding. ~luv, Linda
You're right-- one newborn is easy.
But just you wait until you have two or three--or more, then getting out to do anything as a family will seem like amajor accomplishment! I don't know how many times I thought with Ellie that it wasn't too bad, and then we had our next 2, and now I know what those parents were talking about!
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