Quote of the Week

"I CAN HANDLE ANYTHING...I HAVE CHILDREN"


I saw this on a bumper sticker today and actually laughed out loud to myself! What a great quote! No diss whatsoever to those of you without children, Im sure you too are very capable of handling most anything. But as someone with a child and "with child" I will say that I have never known so well before now just what I am capable of handling. And that is why this bumper sticker rang true for me.

Having a child has shown me just how much I can take. From being hit, glared at, yelled at, cried at, thrown up on, food thrown at me, toys thrown at me, hair pulled, breasts bit, sat on, pulled on, whined at, and more I have learned to take a lot more than I ever thought I could before. Going from the predictability of a childless life to complete unpredictablility of motherhood has begun to teach me just what I am capable of. Will we get a full night of sleep to night? Will we have a peaceful meal? Will we get thru the grocery store without a tantrum? Will we make it to the potty in time? Will she eat green beans today after eating them the last year and a half? Will I place the Barbie correctly on the chair? Will she take a nap? Every day seems to be a new adventure, like a rollercoaster you ride each day with new twists and turns each time you get on. Even pregnancy itself taught me a lesson or two. Gone are the days of having any control over my appearance, my weight, my size, my bodily functions! Life is now out of my control, and I have had to learn to roll with the punches. Me, the control freak who lives for order and rhythm.

But there are blessings to it all. Motherhood has taught me that life is more than control and order. There's some fun in the unpredictability too. And watching your child come up with something new on a regular basis makes rolling with the punches a little easier. Ive also been loved on a lot more than I was ever loved on before. And Im a lot more needed and a lot less selfish than I was pre-baby. It's helped me learn that life isnt all about what I need and what I like. Seeing this little person grow into a functioning human being and knowing I had a little something to do with it is quite a reward. Being a parent forces you to handle anything that comes your way; the good, the bad, and the ugly. And you can do it all while packing a 25 lb. noisy, wild animal in your left arm and pushing a grocery cart with the other.