Day 22/23 Emerging from the Tunnel of Parenthood
Yesterday, we officially made it to end of the tunnel of parenthood (i.e. the first
five years of your first child's life). The point of the tunnel is not to say
that when you've reached its end, you are suddenly an expert on parenting. Not
in the least. (Read the above linked article!) But what it does mean is that
you've survived those first five intense years for the first time. And that's
cause for celebration!
{pretty}
Of course, this doesn't mean that parenting is magically easier
now. But I still think that it's something to celebrate, this milestone.
I feel like there is a tendency, among mothers (even mothers who
are very good friends), to compare. We want to feel like we are doing the right
thing (whatever that is) and we want to feel like others appreciate how hard
our lives are. I totally get it! But here's the thing - every child is
different. If your child turns five and is still an absolute handful,
that's okay! You have still survived those first five years of development
together, and you can still both (you and your child!) give yourselves a pat on
the back.
{funny}
Coupled with this is also the fear that if you acknowledge
the difficulty of those first five years, you're somehow blaming your child.
You're not! The first five years with your first child are something
that you go through together. They are years (like the
early years of marriage) where strife can either bond you together or pull you
apart.
And these first five years are actually a good analogy for
family life in general. Family life can be full of some of the most intensely
beautiful and incredible moments you will ever know. It also can (and probably
will) be the place where you experience the greatest hardships. What
will define your family is not whether or not you struggle - but how that
struggle impacts your relationship to each other. Like in the newlywed
years, and in the tunnel - will those struggles become an opportunity to bond
over something together? Or will they lead you to grow in resentment toward
each other?
And, if we're fully honest (especially my fellow young parents)
our days may be filled with a mix of both. There may be days that we resent
each other, when we are frustrated with just how hard everything
is. That's okay! This is where being a domestic monastery matters. One of the
cores of your little monastery is simple - the very real desire to love each
other. Ultimately, that love and a good dose of forgiveness (like when your mom
accidentally leaves your refrigerate only birthday cake on the counter all
afternoon and has to run out and buy another one before bedtime...not that my
daughter has any personal experience with that or anything) and a good sense of
humor. The sense of a domestic monastery is, "We love each other. And darn
it...we're in it together!"
{happy,
real}
Happy
birthday to my sweet love. You've brought me more joy that you'll ever know!
Oh my gosh - I'm so glad you shared that article. I'm constantly telling people that my issue isn't that I'm too tired or there isn't enough time to do things, but that it's just such a huge transition from being an independent individual to being an independent individual with a dependent who needs you to do EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I was just saying to my husband how the year to year changes of our 10 yo haven't been all that major since around 6 or 7. With our 6 week old, I see such big changes week to week, and when the baby is older, the changes between years are profound. Instead of a tunnel, I always thought of it as a fog, and yes, by age 5 the fog was gone. Funny, but with this new baby, the fog was around for 2 weeks. I think having the 10 yo has given us a different perspective, because, honestly, this baby is as hard as the 10 yo was, maybe even harder on us physically since my husband and I are both 39 now, but we feel no where near the "lost at sea" feeling that we had with the first. That helps a lot all the way around.
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