What it's like...
4/16/2008
Someone asked me the other day to describe what it's like to have a child.
Some people describe it as an event that gives life meaning. Others describe it as exhausting, wonderful, and terrifying.
For me, it's difficult to put into words what it's like without giving an incomplete picture. My son isn't much more than a week old, so I hardly have a complete picture of what it's like. It's everything other parents describe, but that's not the complete picture either.
It is wonderful to see him open his eyes and move his arms around. It is exhausting to get up every 2 hours during the night to feed and care for him. It is frustrating and alarming when it's difficult to console him when he's crying. It's nerve-wracking when traveling with him. It's adorable when he's content and starts squeaking as he breathes in and out. I feel proud to see my wife take such good care of him, and I wonder what he'll be like as he grows up.
As you can see, there's not one word or one sentence that can really sum up what it's like. It's a movie plot, a novel, an epic symphony of life with ups and downs, twists and turns, fear and triumph. Taken as a whole, it's a great experience, but at any one cross-section of time, it can be boring, violent, quiet, scary, or wonderful.
Well, at least it is so for. It's only been a week, after all.
-Matt
Cindy - 4/16/2008 10:45am
:)