Nobody ever told me...

Just some musings on what no one tells you before parenthood...

Nobody ever told me that parenting is a 24-hour, 7-day a week job or that much of the knowledge I would need is learned "on the job".

Nobody ever told me what hard work and sacrifice it would be to be a mother. (Sure, they mention it in passing, but no one ever REALLY tells you. Probably because we all want the human race to continue! ;) )

Nobody ever told me that children change you forever...physically, mentally and emotionally.

• For instance, whenever a child or baby cries, you immediately look around to see if it is your darling or another's who has been hurt in some way.

• I will never again feel ambivalent about a child feeling hungry, or tired, or scared or hurt, even if they aren't my own.

• I will never again look quite as "cute" as I did when I was in my younger days and frolicking in the latest fashions, but now I always have someone far cuter dangling on my hips (or back or front). :)
  

Nobody ever told me how indescribable it is to feel new life moving within you.

Nobody ever told me that I have the power to impact lives more deeply than any other job in the world.

Nobody ever told me that being a mother is THE most rewarding work around!

Nobody ever told me that there is a type of "falling in love" that occurs without romance.

Nobody ever told me I would not get another full and restful night's sleep until my children are out of the house. But nobody told me that it would feel sooo nice to have many little feet poked in your side (and leg, and belly, and arm) at night while you try to sleep either.

Nobody ever told me that breastfeeding would be HARD work, that it might take time and that there would be countless opportunities when I would probably NOT feel like nursing my child at that moment. But nobody told me that my power and comfort lies in the fact that I alone am capable of being my child's sole source of nourishment and comfort for the first several months of life.

Nobody ever told me that a perfect "Mother's Day" gift would bethree more pairs of hands.

Nobody ever told me that a little cry could pierce my heart so deeply nor how one small giggle can send ripples of laughter through my soul.

Nobody ever told me what FUN it is to watch children dance and sing their way through a day!

Nobody ever told me that on those long, trying days, when I feel lost or worn out or unprepared...there is always a hand (sometimes smaller than my own) to lend help and get me through that moment, or hour, or day. And the open-armed, ring-around-your-neck hug that awaits me when I need it, is sometimes the biggest help of them all.

Brief "kid" update

I've decided to try to start writing shorter posts occasionally; I find that the thought of having to sit down for a half-hour to an hour and write a post on a particular topic is usually daunting and I wind up putting it off. If I just decide to write quick ones here and there, I may be more apt to do it. So here's one to get it started . . .

Cavan: His vocabulary is growing bit-by-bit everyday. Shan and I have also started numbers and letters with him. If you coax him, he can count to 10 with a pretty high accuracy and he has an unusual affinity for "8, 9, 10" for some reason. :) Some more fun words of his:

"Joof"= Juice

"Mope" = No/Nope

"Ots" = Off

He also started calling me "Daddy" instead of "Da-da" just yesterday. I respond to either one, lucky for him. :)


Kellyn: She's officially crawling! She has been doing an army crawl for several weeks now, but just recently started doing the real thing. When you think of it, I'm surprised babies ever learn that skill; geez, it really takes a lot of coordination to move all those limbs in-sync with each other. They never cease to amaze . . .

She's starting to pull herself up on things as well as get into everything; it's about time to really give this house a thorough baby-proofing. What a fun age, though . . . I'll miss these years when they're gone. My wife insists that she won't, but I don't believe her one bit. :)

Happy New Year!

Since Heath did the Christmas post, let me take this opportunity to wish all of our loved ones a very Happy New Year! True to Morber form, we are just a little late. I'm afraid I have probably rubbed off too much on Heath in that aspect. :)

With each new year, we all scramble to make "resolutions". I resolve to (fill-in-the-blank) this year and make myself a better person. While I think resolutions are admirable and necessary in trying to improve ourselves and grow as individuals, most of them fall by the way-side pretty quickly. As I was sitting here, I was pondering the definition of "resolve". Here is what Webster has to say: "dissolve, melt; break up, separate; to reduce by analysis; to deal with successfully, clear up; to reach a firm decision about; to make (as voice parts) progress from dissonance to consonance; determine; fixity of purpose". Now in terms of New Year's, most people mean "to reach a firm decision about" or "determine". Heath would prefer the musical meaning, but reading on to further defintions, I stumbled on "resolution". One of its definitions is "the act or process of reducing to a simpler form".

It is this latest definition which struck me most. Many of us resolve to lose weight, to keep in better touch with loved ones, to become a better version of ourselves....well, maybe the key to becoming that better version actually involves stripping away at the complexity of our layers. When we look inward and focus on simplifying...our lives, our homes, ourselves...it is here that our resolutions will materialize. What matters most in life is that which is most simple. Loving God and loving those in our lives. Period. Cars are nice, but we don't need them. Cell phones are handy, but we don't need them. An extensive wardrobe is cool, but again, we don't need it.

On the other hand, we desperately need God and we sure as heck need love in our lives if we are to thrive. So, this year, how can *I* make myself better? By juicing up my loving actions to my family, friends and most importantly, my Savior. It is one thing to love...and it is quite another to live that love. Now, with all of you as my witnesses....I hereby resolve to live my love in a greater way in 2007. That may mean sacrificing more of my time, living more simply or maybe just living more joyfully than I do on some days. Boy....I better get to work. ;)

Merry Christmas!

No, we haven't given up on this blog yet! We have been out-of-town for a very relaxing week at my folks' house in good ol' Southern Illinois. It was great to see them and catch up on my reading, but it's good to be home.

Please allow me to wish you all a Merry Christmas on behalf of my family. And no, I shall not call it belated since we are still in the midst of the Christmas season, despite the presence of Christmas trees in the trash starting on December 26th. Traditionally, the season of Christmas officially ended on January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas--go figure :), but the fun extends a bit longer with the Post-Vatican II calendar. Now the season ends with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord which falls on a Monday (the 8th) this year. So again, Merry Christmas!

I must admit that I unfortunately get sucked into the secularity (is that a word?) of the season nearly every year. It's just so hard to really get into the feel of Advent when you see Christmas lights everywhere, Christmas songs on the radio, and Santa sightings every which way. The effect of all this, as you know, is that you're "Christmas-ed out" by the time the 25th rolls around. I think I'll change my pre-Christmas practices next year: none of my Christmas CD's will see the light of day until Christmas eve!

While I'm thinking of it, I'm going to mention a few topics in passing on which I plan to blog. This will somewhat commit me to doing them and act as a good reminder :) Here's a few that I've been thinking of lately:


Homeschooling

Discipline

Abortion (get your hard-hat ready!)

Family size

Rantings on the Baby-Boom generation

The decline of reason


At this rate of posting, I should have all these done by 2008! Stay tuned!