On Parenting: It's pretty great

Some time ago, a friend of mine from high school told me that she and her husband were going to wait to have kids until they could afford a live-in nanny. When I asked her why, she gave me a response that was more or less, "We know ourselves pretty well - we like kids when they are cute and happy but we don't want to have to deal with them when they cry." I didn't respond, but there seems to be something intrinsically wrong with having children on purpose when you have no intention of actually nurturing them.

I remembered this conversation because we had a crazy morning on Saturday. The Squeaker woke up around 3:45 asking for a drink of water, but then couldn't go back to sleep. I'd give him a hug and a kiss and go back to bed, but he'd start crying again ten minutes later. By 5 am, he was inconsoleable and he told me that his ear hurt. He was laying in his bed as I stroked his damp forehead, and he held his arms out to me and said, "Loves. Cuddles." So I picked him up and rocked him.

Before we had kids, we knew some parents who tended to emphasize a lot of the negative aspects of child-rearing. "You will get no sleep! Pregnancy destroys your body! Be happy that you two have time to yourself! Kids just make messes and have tantrums!" And while all of that is true to a certain extent, none of those things really capture what it is really like to be a parent. The whole truth is that yeah, having little ones in your house is quite a job (on Thursday, the Squeaker made not one, but THREE big messes!), and it requires a lot from you, but it's also completely wonderful.

But when he was feeling really horrible and just wanted his mommy, all I could think about was how grateful I am that he is part of our family.