The Joy of Parenthood

Now I have four people reading my blog. Oh, the sweet joys of success!

My most recent bloggy victim is a newlywed anxiously awaiting the arrival of his first child. Although most of my comments on his blog encourage him to savor ever moment of his freedom before its gone, there are so many joys of parenthood that I never truly appreciated until I experienced them for myself.

In an effort to embrace an attitude of gratitude this holiday season, I’m posting this:

Baby Addict’s Top Five Reasons that Being a Parent Rocks

1. You get to experience your soul mate in an entirely new way. You know the best friend and lover in them, but you don’t know the parent in them until your first child is born. Watching your mate protect and care for a tiny, needy human being that is a part of yourself will inspire a new depth of love. (Although sleep deprivation makes it difficult to share your adoration adequately)

2. You get to be the hero. For the first couple of years, you will be the person your child runs to as soon as you walk in the door. You will be the one your child wants to sleep with when they are sick. You will be the one that cuddles your child when they are afraid of the dark, or the lightning, or the big, scary world of sleep. You are everything.

3. You get all the love. Babies are full of love and all the cuddling, hugging, smooching, and baby wearing gives you all the human contact you could ever crave (and sometimes more).

4. You get all the credit. There has never been another baby in the history of time as cute and smart as yours. The great news is that it is entirely due to your fabulous genes and talented parenting skills.

5. You get to see the world in a new way. The most mundane things are new and beautiful when your baby sees them for the first time. Rather than whine about the snow covering your car, you will be thrilled to share the moment when your baby licks his first snowball.

There are so many more reasons I could add to the list, but this post would be entirely too long. Although its more entertaining to whine about the challenges we face, parenthood is definitely a blessing.

I’d love to hear what you would add to this list!