Comments on: Patience

By: harold

harold — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:03:17 +0000

I love the reference to Douglas Adams. One of my favorites of his, after the first of those, Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective.

PS– Kids are hard. Harder when they are the first and you don’t have a clue as to all you are supposed to do.

As for her, she is fine, I suspect, from all you say about her. Didn’t even notice the neglect! :)

By: aag

aag — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:08:28 +0000

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words.

By: Eddie Locke

Eddie Locke — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:02:58 +0000

still you can bring a tear to my eye when no one else can… Your writing is amazing.

By: Mrs. Basement

Mrs. Basement — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:44:06 +0000

That was a beautiful entry.

By: Randy

Randy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:19:37 +0000

I was totally ambivalent about circumcision, but this? I’m SO glad to be a second child rather than first. My older sibling “broke in” my parents, I am less “messed up” because of it. At the same time, we were nearly a decade apart, so essentially an only child, I get none of the sibling support those closer in age have. (Of course my parents were also a decade older by then too.)

Perhaps? Definitely.

By: aag

aag — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:08:23 +0000

Yes, exactly. The same four things apply to the baby as well. :)

But when you tell this to new parents, they promptly ignore you. “My baby will be different,” they think.

This is, I’m convinced, the only reason humans are still on the planet.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:49:25 +0000

‘Eat, sleep, poop & cry’ seems to sum up the first year completely.

Expecting more seems unrealistic.

By: Em

Em — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:05:56 +0000

I am the first child and my sisters whine about my getting to do things that they cannot. One thing I’ve realized over the years though is that I may be able to everything first but they will always get to do things better than I will. My parents are human and are not perfect, although they certainly try. Hopefully, your oldest (and you) will learn to cut you some slack and know that your heart is in the right place.

By: wishingyouwell

wishingyouwell — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:41:18 +0000

As to your guilt from your impatience, remember that a baby’s cry is the most compelling and demanding sound a human can make to other humans.

Our daughter, our firstborn, seemed to do nothing but eat, sleep, poop, and cry her first year. I still wish we could have found the source of the pain and helped her. It seemed as if we tried everything. If our son had had the same first year, our sanity might not have survived.

By: Meianca

Meianca — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:33:30 +0000

So mote it be. Amen.

i can only hope the same is true for my own three. Though i was a SAHM with my firstborn and second born, but have not ever been with my third, i can only hope i learned something the first two times around that makes my parenting of her BETTER, even if the quantity is not so much as they got.