Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thoughts on being a parent (from other parents)...

Everyone says that you'll get TONS (too much) advice on parenting and being a parent when you're pregnant... but for me... that hasn't really happened yet. But last night... at a cocktail holiday party (boy, those just aren't as fun when you're not drinking)... I got two good ones.

A friend/work-related colleague told me this...

"Its like you've been watching life through a 17 inch black and white TV... and then you upgrade to a 50 inch high definition color TV... its like seeing the world like you've never seen before."

And for her second piece... she said... "People always tell me I look at parenting likes its all rainbows and puppy dogs... so I'll balance it with this... if at some point your are struggling with your child's stage of life (like the sleepless new born nights... to the crazy toddler days)... just remember... it comes and goes so quickly. A new stage will be there so soon."

Thanks Jillion... those were two of the sweetest words of parenting wisdom I've heard yet!

5 comments:

CHarris said...

OK, my turn :-)

I'd say NOTHING can prepare you for being a parent. You can get all the advice possible, but you'll never "get it" until you hold that 30 second old baby in your arms - it just clicks. I've had conversations with many moms-to-be and they think I'm crazy with my advice, but then I see them hold their baby and I can tell that they get it.

And every day you fall more and more in love - that child matters more, and the rest of life matters less. I remember somebody telling me that someday I would love my children like I love my husband...and I couldn't imagine that could be true. But it really is.

Heather @ Glitter and Gloss said...

being a parent is the most amazing, most rewarding experience you will ever have! : )

janessa said...

You got two great pieces of advice. I, too, was trying to gather info from every perspective while I was pregnant. It's so difficult to wrap your head around all the "what if's" and the "how will I handle this's"

But, now that I'm a parent (yipes! Still not used to admitting that!) I've realized how quickly these last 5.5 months have gone by, how big she is, how my memory is foggy and how much she means to me. I can't put it into words. I want to, I want to be able to tell you how great and difficult it will be at the same time, but I just can't. My heart has a new 'heaviness' to it, it's being tugged on at all times just thinking of Jenna, glancing in her direction or snuggling with her.

Keep the blog up, you won't regret it!

Zoe said...

That's really sweet. I'll have to keep those in mind!

Anonymous said...

You'll probably hear this a lot.

Enjoy it while it lasts. (And the bad / hard times will pass.) We can't believe Caroline is nearly 16 months. Time has just flown. Somewhere between 12 and 15 months she became a "little person" rather than a "baby", with her own little budding personality and ideas.

Don't worry if you don't "connect" right away. We didn't, but now we can't believe how much love we have for her. So much that it almost hurts at times.

They will learn what they want to learn. We have been teaching Caroline a little sign language. It's funny to see what she deems as important. I've been trying to get her to do elephant and girraff for a while, even helped her sign them. What does she get after seeing it once or twice? Sheep.

They will also amaze you with their comprehension. They may not be able to say much but they sure understand a lot.