I wrote a downer blog post a few weeks ago. Like I said then, it was a hard week and I just wanted to complain a little bit. But I don't want to be (or seem like) one of those moms (and there are so many out there) who just are so bogged down in the everyday drudgeries of life that they complain all the time and make it look so terrible to have kids and stay home with them.
I had a friend, who is pregnant, ask me, "Why don't moms ever talk about the good things? All I ever hear about is how hard it is, and I really think moms should be more encouraging, especially to those of us without kids yet." And I 100% agree! I think moms rarely talk about the good things because, really, most people aren't that interested in the good things. I say, look at the cute thing my kid did! And they think, that's great, but look at what cute thing MY kid did! Unless you're talking to your parents, most of your audience is only tangentially interested in the adorableness of your baby. But usually they can help you commiserate when things are not going super well, and I think that's why a lot of times people are more negative than positive when talking about parenting.
But really, guess what? Oh, my gosh, this whole parenting thing is a wild ride but it is ridiculously, oh, so fun. I didn't know I would be so thoroughly entertained by every single dang thing my child learns, and that I would so wildly excited about it. I mean, look at what Dane was doing while we were skyping my family the other day:
He was trying to kiss the computer! Look at those luscious lips coming right at you. This is just a pretty recently learned skill that I don't think I will every be tired of. He'll do an "mmmm" sound while he's getting ready to kiss you, and when he wants to give you a hug he'll lean into you and say "hug" (sounds just like "ha" though), every time. Oh, and he's learned how to blow kisses too:
How could you ever be ready for that? How could anything prepare you for how absolutely hands-down killer amazing that is to have your baby lean in and say "hug" while he's hugging you and blow you a kiss when you're saying good night? I didn't know how invested I would be in every single little change and little thing he learns and how proud I would be of him.
He's learning how to feed himself with utensils as well. We took about a bajillion pictures of him (refer back to how invested, proud, and obsessed we are). He's way old enough, I'm sure we could have done this months ago, but it just means he is really good at it right off the bat.
Soooo proud of himself.
Something I was pretty nervous about with having a toddler--something I heard a lot about as Dane was getting more and more mobile--was how we were going to handle the messes and craziness that come with a toddler. And guess what? You just get over it. As long as he's not dumping out eggs or toxic cleaning supplies or something, I kind of don't care about the messes he makes. Case in point: He has found a box with 250-some-odd business cards that Tommy had in his bedside stand, and now makes it his job to dump them out every single day. Then he sorts through them and strews them across the house. And he's so happy about it I don't even care (yet).
All in all, I have never had more fun in my life as I have had watching Dane grow and learn things and develop his little personality. Even when he gets mad at me and hits me, I am so impressed by all the things he's learning. Sure, I don't want him to hit, but he'll grow out of that, and it's just so cool to watch him developing these emotions and learning how to handle them. I can't imagine enjoying any stage any more--but I hope I keep thinking that about each stage as it comes!
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