Genesis
There’s a first time for everything.
Granny Red
You must tend to each moment of each day that you have. Be present with your child and with each other. Be present in each smile, in each discovery, in each milestone. The dishes can wait, the laundry can wait. But time does not wait. Cherish each moment in time because he will soon be a child no more.
The thought of creating and bringing new life into this world terrifies me beyond measure. Dedicating every waking moment to making sure that child is provided with the tools and knowledge to better themselves and hopefully the world. Knowing that your daily habits and traits will influence their very existence. Always being watched and listened to while every word is being subconsciously recorded only for it to be repeated in their own innocent way. You can’t you blame the child, they’re merely a sponge thats’s absorbing the bottomless information the world has to offer.
The duty and commitment of being a parent isn’t for the faint of heart, some mothers are abandoned in this journey long before the child arrives, some children are abandoned the moment they arrive, and some are exterminated before the journey truly begins. Where’s the blueprint for first time parents? Knowing that it takes a village to raise a child some people don’t have a partner to share responsibilities with. The little things add up to be your greatest demise when you take on being a single parent. Some parents don’t have family to rely on when they need an extra pair of hands to help clean while the mother pumps, or to change a diaper while dad is hosting a virtual work meeting, or even rock the baby back to sleep for the fifth time at 3 in the morning? Where’s the blue print for the mother who was raised by a single father? Where’s the blueprint for the father who was raised by a household filled with women? Who do you call on when you need guidance, support, or words of encouragement when it feels like you’re taking on the entire world while raising a child who didn’t ask to be here?
Being a parent is single handedly the hardest job that man can commit to. No matter what you have to put your child’s life in front of yours. There’s no longer room to be selfish with your time or resources, not even a sliver when you have nothing left in the tank and your child is calling your name at the top of their lungs. A 25/7 lifetime position of a child raising another child who is trying to figure it out one day at a time.
Despite the never ending challenges of being a parent there’s ample beauty within it. The joy and excitement newborn parents have within the child’s first month of existence equates to a toddler in the middle of the candy store. Eyes opened wide and filled with light from the heavens as you partake in a innocent staring contest with your child. A pure bundle of innocence that has yet to be tainted by the world looks up to you for guidance and understanding. As each day passes you gain to appreciate the mundane more than you have before and your partners dedication to providing the best possible life for the three of you. As the child grows by the day you do too, you learn how to laugh more, how to be present, and how to release your inner child. Life is no longer the same nor will it ever be now that you have brought new blood into this world.
As an outsider I wander what those rush of emotions must feel like, how staring at your seed long enough can help you identify whose features the child carries, or how much of yourself you can already see in your child. I often wonder how the child is processing all of this information. How this new and unspoken bond mends a family together and only grows stronger by the day. What I admire most about parents is how much they are willing to sacrifice in order for their child to thrive. I’ve known friends who were the most selfish individuals grow to be the most selfless. Friends who were struggling in their lonesome suddenly thrive because they are no longer living for themselves. Seems as if the responsibility of being a parent gave them the ability to find or create opportunities that they never thought of. Little did they know that a child would help them put two and two together and create a life they never fathomed. To all of the newborn parents cherish each moment as if its your last because he/she will soon be a child no more. Life is no longer black and white, children will show you how vibrant the world is through their eyes, joy, laughter, innocence, and youth. Keep at it and know that this too shall pass.
