- I’m quite certain that there’s one thing I have figured out about parenting after my second child, and that is that I don’t even know half of what there is to know about parenting. I’m not even sure I know a quarter of it. I’ve said before that parenting is a humbling experience, and there is no truer statement than that. It is easier with the second one, but it in no way means that you got it figured out. Kids don’t come with instruction manuals because each child would require its own unique guide. Bailey has slept for over 9 hours straight the past two nights. I’m not complaining, I’m just perplexed. Chloe woke every two hours to eat until at least nine months of age, maybe longer. I was always confused when I heard or read a woman talking about it or if someone asked me, “Is she sleeping through the night yet?” I would smile, and say, “Why yes she is!” I would walk away confused, thinking “do babies do that?! When would they eat?!” From 3 weeks old, Bailey has slept long stretches at night. But I’ll admit this 9 hour business had freaked me out. I worried, “Is she sick? Is she getting enough to eat?” I did what I always do. I went to my trusted parenting advisor, google. It said 5 month old babies can sleep 9-10 hour stretches. Well, I’ll be! I knew she was fat, happy, and had plenty of wet diapers, but seeing a trusted parenting site say it was ok helped me relax a bit after that. It’s a learn as you go kinda thing.
- Another humbling part about parenting is how you handle things. Having a child will take a normally put together person and tear them apart. Seriously. You think you know how it will be when you’re first expecting. You think it will be like having a precious doll to dress up. People will try to tell you different, and you smile and shake your head up and down, saying, “I know girl!” Then one day you look at yourself in the mirror and see your roots are overgrown, your nails are chipped (if you somehow found the precious amount of time to paint them last week), and there’s already an unidentified stain on your shirt (you just changed!). Then, you realize you don’t even care. You find you’re spending you’re time on nurturing, feeding, and changing others, and when you finish doing that, you do it again. I cherish my children, but sometimes I forget to relax. Today right after I got dressed, the baby spit up all over me. I sighed in exasperation. Chloe was standing there and said, “It’s ok Momma. It’s just spit-up.” She walked off and came back with a paper towel. She said, “It will wipe off.” Smart girl. Humbled.
- As I pulled out of the driveway earlier with the girls in tow, I realized I had forgotten something. I went back, retrieved it, locked the door, and got back in the car. As I put the car in reverse, I remembered my phone was in the house. I thought, “What is wrong with me? Will I ever get it together?” When I got back in the car, I felt my frustration, so I silently prayed. God asked me, “Why are you in such a hurry anyway? It’s ok. What you think is important, it’s not that important.” As we drove along, I noticed how crowded the city was. Coming up on a stop light, a car zoomed ahead of me and slammed on its brakes. I said, “It’s not worth dying over Mister.” Chloe piped up from the backseat, “Why is he so fast?” Good question little one. He arrived at Walmart the same time I did. When I found my parking place among the hordes of other traffic, it began to rain and both girls were asleep. I just sat in the stillness. “No need to rush. No need to wake them. It’s not that important” I thought. Humbled.
That is all 🙂