"Isn't having a baby the best?!?!?"
I find this question (or some variant of it) really hard to answer. It requires a yes or no answer. It is or it isn't. It's black or it's white.
But having a baby is hard.
I love my son so much and can't imagine our lives without him... but it's hard. It's hard when there's not a lot of sleep going on (for any of us), when he cries and you don't know why but you use to, or when you just want to snuggle him but he's ready to be on the move already. It's hard when you feel like you're FINALLY understanding something when it changes all over again - then you realize that this is how it will be from now until forever. It's hard when that feeling of dread comes over you when something is wrong and you realize you will never stop worrying about him. Never.
But having a baby is so good.
There is the cuddles and the smiles. There is nothing like having him really look at you for the first time and light up because he knows you (and it never gets old every time after that). Seeing how much he learns and grows every day. Seriously. I'm a little bit in awe about how he couldn't grab something one day and the next he's grabbing that toy AND putting it in his mouth (Take that Mr. Crinkly-Squirrel!)
So this is where I take issue with "The Best" question - there is no room for it to be extremely good and extremely hard all at once. It makes no room for, well, life.
In college a professor once explained to me that the opposite of black and white isn't grey but (shocker) colour. Not choosing yes or no doesn't mean you are on the fence (or that you don't love your baby), it means you are recognizing that it's complicated, beautiful, and there's so much more going on.
And frankly, I'd rather choose colour every time because my son deserves parents who see him as a growing, wonderful person not just a baby or a social standing or a fill-in-the-blank status. Seeing him in this way means we are there for him 100% of the time - when it's good and especially when it's hard.
So to the person who has probably had more sleep in the last night then I have had in the last couple of months, I say to you: No, it's not the best. But it is good and hard.
And full of so much colour.
The Wakeful Dreamer
I find this question (or some variant of it) really hard to answer. It requires a yes or no answer. It is or it isn't. It's black or it's white.
But having a baby is hard.
I love my son so much and can't imagine our lives without him... but it's hard. It's hard when there's not a lot of sleep going on (for any of us), when he cries and you don't know why but you use to, or when you just want to snuggle him but he's ready to be on the move already. It's hard when you feel like you're FINALLY understanding something when it changes all over again - then you realize that this is how it will be from now until forever. It's hard when that feeling of dread comes over you when something is wrong and you realize you will never stop worrying about him. Never.
But having a baby is so good.
There is the cuddles and the smiles. There is nothing like having him really look at you for the first time and light up because he knows you (and it never gets old every time after that). Seeing how much he learns and grows every day. Seriously. I'm a little bit in awe about how he couldn't grab something one day and the next he's grabbing that toy AND putting it in his mouth (Take that Mr. Crinkly-Squirrel!)
So this is where I take issue with "The Best" question - there is no room for it to be extremely good and extremely hard all at once. It makes no room for, well, life.
In college a professor once explained to me that the opposite of black and white isn't grey but (shocker) colour. Not choosing yes or no doesn't mean you are on the fence (or that you don't love your baby), it means you are recognizing that it's complicated, beautiful, and there's so much more going on.
And frankly, I'd rather choose colour every time because my son deserves parents who see him as a growing, wonderful person not just a baby or a social standing or a fill-in-the-blank status. Seeing him in this way means we are there for him 100% of the time - when it's good and especially when it's hard.
So to the person who has probably had more sleep in the last night then I have had in the last couple of months, I say to you: No, it's not the best. But it is good and hard.
And full of so much colour.
The Wakeful Dreamer
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