Kids Curb Marital Satisfaction

This was the headline I saw when I accessed the news this morning. My first thought was, "well, duh..." Then, I felt irked. I'm a rabid reader of parenting books, magazines and internet articles, and I've been seeing a ton of this theme lately:

-the thrill is gone after kids

-parenting is hard. so hard. so very hard. you might not make it through.

-forget having anything nice, your kids will destroy it!

-you'll go weeks without a shower. maybe a month!

-smart people stay on a bright career path, uneducated people breed. (I'm not even kidding, a budding career woman kindly educated me on this...)

Children are being portrayed as the killers of relationships, romance, your career and your sanity. I hate that. I hate it with a passion.

I have a different thought. I am truly happier than I've ever been. Of course there are struggles. Of course. I'll be the first to confess that I miss my Banana Republic outfits, coffee breaks, nice vacations, time, career accolades and a full night's sleep. Oh, sleep! Why do you ignore me??!! I digress.

I feel like God has been showing me that this time with my son is such a short season. His growth and development really are worthy of my time and investment...even if that investment poos 3-4 times a day and tries to ignore me in public. I digress yet again.

I want parenthood to deepen my relationships, not destroy them. I want my new Mommy career to enhance my identity, not define it. I want to learn to be selfless with my time, and not look at him as the thief of my good times.

He's just a thief of my cookies: