New Perspective

Being a parent for the past 6 years has given me my fair share of ups and downs, laughs and tears, worries and joys. But I must say that being a parent of three (3) children has changed my perspective even more. I remember with my first using the baby monitor for at least the first year of his life, maybe even longer. Every skipped breath, cough or wheeze, I was hovering over that crib until I was satisfied that everything was okay. The second kid got the monitor for awhile, but most nights it was turned off and we could still hear him through the cracked door. Now with the third, her door is shut and when she wakes up at 6:00 in the morning, I let her talk/fuss/rustle for at least 10 minutes before I go collect her or even check the diaper. Sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes not....but at least I give her time to decide if she is ready to get up. I wonder if this will give her more independence later in life (as I doze in and out of sleep).

With just one kid, a night of throwing up was an epic event that required a trip to the store for Pedialyte, a call to the doctor and a maybe even a call home to mom for some sympathy. Now its just an excuse for an extra cup of coffee the next morning. And the extra laundry does not even faze me because the pile on the laundry room floor never completely goes away anyhow.

I'm not a writer and not sure what I'm trying to say, but I know that with 3 kids I'm much busier, definitely more tired and feeling a little run down. But I also feel like I'm learning to give up trying to control every situation, roll with the punches and find the humor in every situation. It's harder than it sounds, but hey, I'm trying.

Case in point, last night I go in to check on the boys before I go to bed and step barefoot into a big wet puddle on the carpet. Squish....Pee!!! 2nd child never wets the bed!! What is this? And yet, there he is, both feet on the ground, torso laying across the bed and soaked from the waist down. He was sleeping standing up!! He must have tried to make it to the bathroom but when he realized it was too late, just peed there on the floor and gone back to bed. And by some luck, decided not to put his wet self back in the bed, thereby sparing me the extra laundry. What a great son! After a comatose bath and new jammies, he's back in bed and so am I. The old me might have over-analyzed the situation, had a discussion with him in the morning about what happened and worried that he'd become a bedwetter. The new me never mentions a word to him and just laughs at the image of him sleeping while standing up!

I can only imagine over the next 20 years that my outlook will constantly be tweaked as each child enters a new and exciting stage in their life. I know there are many more trials ahead. Some day I will look back on those sleepless nights full of vomit and pee....and wish life was just as simple as cleaning up the mess and giving hugs of comfort. But I know that with all those trials will come the rewards of raising children who are proud of themselves, good to others and happy to be part of a family that loves each other unconditionally.