I was pregnant with Abu and tired. It was winter and bitterly cold outside. This meant I had spent an entire day stuck in the house trying to entertain Bean, who was just a toddler.
And if there is one thing I realized quickly, is that as soon as my kid could walk; parenting in nice weather is a heck of a lot easier than in bad weather. We love being outside. My girls practically live outside in the summer, cutting down on our chances of being bored.
But back to my parenting tale. Hero hottie and I decided we were going to watch movies for the evening since he was exhausted from working all day and I was pregnant. Sitting down and doing nothing sounded great. Wonderful. Blissful.
We bundled Bean in her thick winter coat that makes buckling her car seat nearly impossible and we were off to Blockbuster.
Slowly we made our way down long row of New Releases with Bean toddling slightly ahead of us and looking at all the video cases at her eye level.
Towards the end of the row she pauses and frowns heavily.
All day I had ran around chasing her, or telling her 'no' or feeding her. Her list of things to accomplish for the day hadn't included a nap, she had been so active. But suddenly she was looking quite pale and just a bit green. What had seemed like just normal tiredness was suspiciously looking like something a bit more sinister.
Then, without any sort of warning, she projectile vomits over the video cases, the shelf and the floor. Hero hottie and I gasped. Puke is all the place. And we're shocked that someone so little could produce such a foul smelling mess...and so quickly.
It takes us a moment to collect our wits. How can one small toddler contain so much puke potential in her tiny belly? I can't believe how many video cases she has managed to cover in one powerful shot.
Hero hottie finally snaps into action and goes looking for some cleaning supplies while I use some baby wipes to clean up Bean's face. She looks like she's going to throw up again and I have a feeling we better head home quickly.
The clerk at the desk is young, under the age of eighteen and you would think that he has never dealt with vomit before because it appears from the revealing shade of green he has turned that he's experiencing some shared queasiness.
Hero hottie cleans up a bit and the -ready to puke- clerk heads over to the spot to finish up.
Luckily, Bean manages to make it home before vomiting anymore. By this time she's sick and fussy and demanding.
I sigh. At least I have hero hottie to help me care for her.
Or so I thought. As we get home and settled in, changing Bean's clothes and cleaning her up, he rushes for the bathroom.
At least he didn't puke in Blockbuster.
The rest of the evening was spent between two sick rooms and cleaning a lot of buckets. Oh, life.
I thought about starting this blog article with just telling you that being a parent is a blessing even though some things stink. But I decided on using humor to show you that some times being a parent really does stink.
Literally. :)
It's a hard job, being a parent. The hardest. In what other job are you responsible for the happiness, care, growth, general well being and forming of a decent human being? Not just part, like what a school teacher does, or like a nurse or doctor, but for practically every thing?
It makes you stronger being a parent. You have to be or no one would get fed, or dressed, or have school papers signed. Thinking back to my pre-parent days I know without a doubt that young Christy couldn't juggle every thing I have to do as a parent. And yes, not all of it is fun. Dishes and laundry could do themselves and I would be so over joyed. I'm so happy that Bean and Abu are getting old enough to fold laundry and dry dishes. It makes life easier. (They disagree with that statement.:)
But I LOVE being a parent. Even on the worse days, like when my kid is using puke as a weapon to stink up the entire Blockbuster, I enjoy and cherish every smile, every I Love You, every hug and every drawing. The things I have learned from being a parent are incredible.
Being reminded of childhood and all the innocent joys of it, while being allowed the special privilege of traveling the beginning part of Bean's and Abu's journey, is priceless. There is not a single thing in the world I would ever trade in exchange for being their Mom.
So being a parent is a blessing. I've learn so much about:
love, (a baby curled under your chin while rocking them to sleep is one the best things in the world)
curiosity, (because your head will get stuck again in the rails if you try it a second time)
strong wills (thanks Bean, who when told to stay sitting on the chair in time out simply moved her chair to reach her toys),
humor (Because there's something uniquely funny about a child's humor in the fact that burps, gas, and sneezes are always something to laugh about)
patience (because for as many times as you can say 'no' they still manage to ask one more time)
laughter (they know the secret to managing stress and it has to do with belly laughs)
priorities (children remember what is important in life- taking time to play, laugh, and snuggle)
Children are blessings. No doubt about it.
- I just hope Blockbuster cleans their video cases from time to time. :)
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