2006
Posted on December 31, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized
Ah, the end of the year. Certainly, this is a time for reflection, something few of us probably do enough of. The past year has been a full one for us: Erin finishing out her pregnancy, the arrival of the Nugget, Erin quitting her job and staying home with Maggie, my gathering the guts required to apply for a new job and actually being selected for it, our departure from our beloved Asheville, us being separated while I was in Alabama and Erin in FL, our move to Idaho, and my personal struggle adapting to that new and very demanding job. CRAZY!!! This year has probably been the most all-around significant year of my life, at least in terms of changes, challenges, and ‘opportunities to excel’, as a former boss of mine used to say.
When you have time periods like this, I think it’s important to establish what your critical ‘take aways’ are, i.e. what are the biggest lessons to be learned and remembered? If forced to boil it down to one simple point, it would be this: Having a child is simultaneously one of the most wondrous and arduous things anyone can do. My perspective on this leans towards emphasizing the latter because I think most people only mention the former. People seem to think that if one talks about how much work being a parent is, especially if the child in question is an infant, the parents must not love their little one or regret becoming a mom/dad. Well, neither of those things is true in my case but I nonetheless do not hesitate to highlight the work side of things. Folks who run around talking about how great parenthood is and never mention the downsides are doing anyone who listens a great disservice. Young people especially need to know that parenting a child is something one could easily come to regret. There are literally thousands of things that could ‘go wrong’ from the onset of a random disease to the eventual development of a kid who is the kind mom and dad told us to stay away from. And I can hear it now, from hills and valleys all over the landscape of our readership: ‘Oh, but it’s so worth it’, ‘If you raise them right, they won’t turn out that way’, or ‘Well, that kind of thing comes with the territory’. Any or all of these may satisfy some but not me, at least when expressed to or by someone still without children. I guess the bottom line for me is this: if you’re in a position where parenthood is a real possibility, i.e. you’re having sex (protected or not), you need to be thinking long and hard about whether you’ve reached a point in your life where you are really ready to take on the single most demanding thing you will ever do. This might sound like preaching but guess what? I’ve earned the right. Unlike most of the things I talk about, I now know, based on my own personal experience, what I’m talking about. I personally know some of the innumerable sacrifices you must make as a parent and this is an aspect of parenting no one ever seems to talk about. And if people do have the guts to talk about it, those listening never seem to truly hear what is being said.
Some may think this a grim-sounding ode to ‘06. It is not, rather, it is just the opposite: If people in this world really thought through the decision they make every time they ‘get it on’, whether by virtue of being in a long term committed relationship or the comfort of the Chevy Citation’s backseat, there would eventually be a whole lot more happy parents and kids.
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6 Responses to “2006”
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It was so wonderful, we got up so cheerful on Christmas morning, It waas Maggie`s first Christmas! How delighted we were to spend thils very precioous moment with our daughter, son-in lawe and our precious granddaugher. We will never forget it. thank you Erin and jason for this precious gift!
Thank for the gift of Maggie this Christmas. We woke up so grateful for the presence of her in our celebration of the day. it wa so wonderful to have you both so joyful of love . Thank you both love grandmother and grandmother Mckay The morning was wonderful, all the love showed.
even though we were not together on Christmas you were in our hearts as you are always maggie is the best gift we could have received thank you so much when times are hard which they will be just look into her little eyes and when she calls you mama and ddada it is so wonderful parenthood is very challenging and rewarding tooi did not do such a good job but i would not trade it for anything ilove you so much words cannot expresshow mucu
the pictures are wonderful maggie is so adorable iam so blessed to have such a great family two wonderful children i guess i did something right because you guys turned out to be responsible adults and i also have a wonderful daughterinlaw and grandbaby thank you love grandma
thank you so much for the pictures of maggie with her present my heart overflows with love for her thank you both for giving me this oportunity te a grandma
to the comment above i meant to say to be a grandma i need yo be more careful take care love you guys grandma