LATEST FROM OUR BLOGGERS
Parents Give Their Children Eating Disorders
Do you eat to punish yourself, or to gain some control over your life? Will your chil...
View More
Today's Everyday Sweepstakes Action: Reply to Today's Community Chalkboard Question!
Getting to know our members better is truly important to us. One new way to do ...
View More
Share Your Inexpensive but Delicious Lunch Ideas
It’s that time again. Every year, around the beginning of summer, our f...
View More
BLOG roll
poll
Do you, your partner, or your other children suffer from allergies or asthma?
BLOG archives
BLOG contributors
Evolution
Monday, September 27, 2010 by Jeannie Fleming-Gifford
Evolution. No, I'm not talking about dinosaurs or the world being created in seven days. That's a whole different type of blog! I'm talking about evolution, as in how we evolve as people, how our little tykes develop.
Tomorrow's my big day. Yep, I'm turning 38 years old. Holy smokes, sometimes I feel old. Then, I look in the eyes of my little blue-eyed girl. I see each day through her eyes, and I run around like a fool in the backyard. I feel pretty darn young.
Have you changed since you became a parent? I SWORE I would be the same. I would keep my independence. I would keep to my fitness routine and *maintain* my girlish good looks
. I promised I would only wear sweat pants when I was working out.
Fast-forward. Whoops. Well, I'm working on those things, but times do change.
Let's face it, taking care of a developing child IS a lot of work! It's not just the physical part (the lifting and picking things up - again and again), it's the social and emotional aspects that wear me out too. My heart is her heart, and when she hurts I want to cry (I don't - afterall, I want to raise her to tackle the challenges that are life). At the end of the day, I'm tired. And sometimes, at the beginning of the day, I'm tired too.
This work pays off though. There's no monetary gain (unless you've figured out something I haven't!). The rewards that come with parenthood are indecscribable. From the moment when you meet this tiniest being, and then you know YOU are the one responsible for it. What an honor. What a journey. What a ride!
It's amazing to watch as newborns make their first sounds, then smiles, then coos and giggles. Newborns grow into infants who gain strength and the ability to sit independently. Next, they're pulling up, and then they are off and stumbling around like a drunken sailor. Then, you see them walk, then jump, and then begin to run.
Our children evolve. We evolve. I'm liking my sweat pants. Happy birthday to me.
