I've been pondering the things each of my children has taught me about motherhood so far. Fascinatingly each has had a distinct lesson(s) for us and so far here are the most key ones:
1) B - As our first child, did much to form us as parents. With him we made our first mistakes and had our first successes. We began to figure out what was important as parents and prioritize. I learned what it is like to parent a child much different than me and how fabulous a sweet boy's smile for his mom can be.
2) M - Having a daughter helped me to embrace my own femininity. It was suddenly OK to love bows, pink, lace, being fancy, baby dolls and whimsical dresses. I have let myself embrace that for the first time in a long while, maybe ever. It was also the realization of a long held secret dream to have a daughter of my own. Parenting M is so different than parenting her brother. She is much more like me, and has much different needs than her brother. The lessons changed and so did we.
3) E - It is, of course, early days to say what E's ultimate lesson for us is. However, surprisingly, I think that his first lesson for me is that at long last I've learned to love newborns. As I noted in earlier posts like this one, the newborn phase has not been my favorite. Previously, I've always yearned for them to talk, walk, and "do stuff". This time, perhaps because it is likely my last newborn, or because I know both the good and hard of what comes next, or perhaps because I finally get it, or perhaps just because of who he is, I'm loving this newborn moment.
It is still hard. We still wish we could sleep more and that we were better at juggling being the parents of three. Somehow though, at long last I've fallen in love with this early phase. I love watching him scope out his surroundings, his little bobbly head, all the snuggles, and don't mind at all that he isn't talking or mobile or has yet to reveal too much about himself.
It's weird and I didn't think it would ever happen, but already E has changed me and taught me what is awesome about newborns and that is a very powerful lesson indeed --- so we'll love and stay in this moment until it changes yet again.
1) B - As our first child, did much to form us as parents. With him we made our first mistakes and had our first successes. We began to figure out what was important as parents and prioritize. I learned what it is like to parent a child much different than me and how fabulous a sweet boy's smile for his mom can be.
2) M - Having a daughter helped me to embrace my own femininity. It was suddenly OK to love bows, pink, lace, being fancy, baby dolls and whimsical dresses. I have let myself embrace that for the first time in a long while, maybe ever. It was also the realization of a long held secret dream to have a daughter of my own. Parenting M is so different than parenting her brother. She is much more like me, and has much different needs than her brother. The lessons changed and so did we.
3) E - It is, of course, early days to say what E's ultimate lesson for us is. However, surprisingly, I think that his first lesson for me is that at long last I've learned to love newborns. As I noted in earlier posts like this one, the newborn phase has not been my favorite. Previously, I've always yearned for them to talk, walk, and "do stuff". This time, perhaps because it is likely my last newborn, or because I know both the good and hard of what comes next, or perhaps because I finally get it, or perhaps just because of who he is, I'm loving this newborn moment.
It is still hard. We still wish we could sleep more and that we were better at juggling being the parents of three. Somehow though, at long last I've fallen in love with this early phase. I love watching him scope out his surroundings, his little bobbly head, all the snuggles, and don't mind at all that he isn't talking or mobile or has yet to reveal too much about himself.
It's weird and I didn't think it would ever happen, but already E has changed me and taught me what is awesome about newborns and that is a very powerful lesson indeed --- so we'll love and stay in this moment until it changes yet again.
2 comments:
I really enjoy your insights! Your little ones are lucky to have such great parents.
Three questions to ponder :1. What do we, think the world expects from us? 2.what do we ex pect from ourselves? 3. (forget the first two, this is the one that counts) what pleases our heart and grows our spirit? Our children help us to find the best in ourselves. I love to watch you with your children.
Post a Comment