Monday, April 13, 2009

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:

4 comments:

Casey said...

I absolutely LOVE this post! I totally agree. There are MANY tough moments in being a mommy, but they are so worth it. I do cherish my short time home with my girls. I see this time slipping away daily. There will be more "me" time soon. Right now I have these tiny girls given to me as a gift. I just registered Charli to start school in August. The time with her alone, here at home with me, is almost gone. It is a very short season.

Minters - The Other Side of the Story said...

What a great outtake on it all. Perspective is hard to maintain sometimes...but wow the kiddo is sooo worth it. Especially right now when she's sitting beside me chatting away in baby language. :)

Amychells said...

This is your best blog yet!!!!! I LOVED IT!!!! YOU ARE BRILLIANT!

Tracey said...

I'm wondering what kind of moron is writing those books about children.....