There are certain elements of parenting that you will never find in parenting guides, but they are important to know as you begin the adventure of parenting. There are mountains of readings about the practical aspects of parenting. You will learn when you should take your child to the doctor or how to comfort a crying child, but no one addresses what you will face emotionally as a parent. During your adventure as a parent, you will experience every type of emotion known to man. You will be amazed that a tiny toddler can bring you to your knees emotionally and your teenager seems to know just how to make you lose your cool when you swore you would be the mature adult in control of the situation. Here is a guide to some of the emotional aspects of parenting;
You need to understand that you become vulnerable the moment your child is conceived. Suddenly you are responsible for another person and you want to protect this child from everything. You now have something in your life that is more valuable to you than you could have ever imagined.
You will worry from morning until night about everything to do with your child. The worries are often silly but you will worry anyway. You will even worry that you are worrying too much.
Your heart will break when theirs does.
You will feel guilty about everything, letting them watch too much t.v, or not enough, or giving them too much candy. You could be the perfect parent, but you will still question your parenting skills. I heard a parenting expert say once that as long as love was in the mix, you couldn’t mess things up too badly, so realize that there really aren’t any perfect parents and a little imperfection will provide learning opportunities.
You can spend time watching a sleeping child and be in awe of the peaceful beauty.
Your child can bring you joy in everyday actions or words.
You will revel in the unbridled joy they show towards life and you will do anything to see it over and over.
Your child will pull out every emotion from you. Often you will feel more than one at the same time such as when you are disciplining your child and you know you are doing the right thing but that puckered lip just is breaking your heart.
When you hear about a child being abused, your heart will break at the same time you are imagining the punishment you believe the abuser deserves. You will need to steal an extra hug and kiss from your child.
As much as you will want to have your child forever, you will realize they will be with you for only a short time, and you need to soak up every moment.
Taking a nap with a small body sprawled across you becomes a special treat.
Sleeping suddenly seems overrated when the alternative is feeding a new baby at 2 a.m. while watching reruns of your favorite show. The world seems peaceful and quiet as you watch your baby slip back into sleep.
You suddenly realize the emotional turmoil, both good and bad, that you caused your parents. It might be a good time to call them and tell them you love them.
Comments / 0