I Finally Get It

For years I've heard other Moms talk about how much they adore babies. They love the baby stage, and they lament over how quickly they grow up. I would nod along and smile when I heard other Moms exclaim about having "baby fever".

But frankly I never understood. Sure babies are cute and cuddly. But I just never fell in love with the baby stage of parenting. This may have had something to do with the fact that my first baby never slept and instead cried from sun up to sun down. And then from sun down to sun up. My second was a little better but still a huge crier. I found the baby stage exhausting and isolating.

Now? I finally get it. Sure my 3rd and 4th babies have been easier and more content, but I think it's more than that.

I now have perspective. I see how babies turn in to tantruming toddlers, "threenagers", and then grade-schoolers with attitude. I see how their innocence is so quickly lost. I see how their problems only get bigger, the bigger they get.

To be able to be alone with "just" my baby these days is a rare treat. I don't see it as a burden at all, but rather a blessing. I finally get it.