Parenting, the job that never ends
My youngest sister, Elise and her husband, Mike, recently celebrated the birth of their first child, Wyatt James. In fact, Wyatt arrived on 10-10-10 at 10 …. 54 p.m.!
It’s exciting to have a new baby in the family, even if he is miles away in Arizona. Hearing Elise talk about Wyatt and how he’s changed life in their household brings back many memories of our own early parenting years: little sleep, interrupted nights, seemingly endless diaper changes and even the dreaded chore of packing the diaper bag before venturing out with the baby.
Oh, it seemed so challenging, and it also seemed like it would never end. But the sleepless nights, diapers, baby food jars and stroller-toting days did end and now that I look back, they seem like a blip in time. And, what has replaced them in some ways is so much more challenging.
There are still sleepless nights, but now it’s not a baby keeping us awake; it’s a teenager with a car out at the Friday night football game or at the homecoming dance; and instead of chasing a toddler, it’s trying to balance the various schedules of three active girls; instead of scheduling doctors’ appointments to make sure vaccines are up-to-date, it’s arranging college visits and making sure applications are turned in on time.
When our girls were little, I could control virtually everything around them, from what they ate to when they slept and where they went.
But as they grow older, my ability to control them and their environments lessens. Certainly that’s a good thing and it’s part of the process where they learn to be their own individuals and make choices for themselves, but as a parent it sure can be difficult.