Inspired by recently buying a cajon, and my husband immediately buying another for additional living room seating because he loved it.
Inspired by recently buying a cajon, and my husband immediately buying another for additional living room seating because he loved it.
Do you like all babies or just prefer your own?
I like all babies. I do prefer my own, and I only moon over babies if I know the parents and have approval…
What is it that you like about them? This is a genuine question I’m not a baby kinda person.
When I was young I was a bit of an arse. Raised by narcissists, I definitely had narcissistic tendencies. It was all I knew. When my first son was born it was a profound moment. I saw the potential in that tiny, helpless baby and his possible futures… Based on what I was and what I had to teach, I realised that those futures weren’t great. So I changed. I have tried every day since to be the parent that I wish I had. I have embraced empathy and kindness. I have shed the anger and vanity… And I have forgiven myself for not doing it sooner. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. When I see a baby I see the potential. It reminds me of how much I’ve changed, how proud of my kids I am, how much I love my family, how much joy I have in my life.
More or less…
Do you think you wouldn’t care about babies if you were born with empathy and a drive to be a kind gentle teaching human?
“Born with…?” We are born with nothing but potential. We are a product of our environment, right up until we realise that we are a product of our environment. Then we have a choice; continue as we are, or choose to be something different. It doesn’t matter which we choose, though… We can no longer blame our parents, our society, our environment, for who we are.
That is a strange question, though. If I was born with empathy and a drive to be a kind, gentle, teaching human then I think babies would be high on the list of people I would want to spend time with. Kindness begets kindness and we know the world could use more kindness!
People like you are so strange to me it’s like watching the birth of a child is some traumatic brain injury that changes you forever.
Not a traumatic brain injury…
It’s a change in perspective. It’s hard to explain without referencing the experience itself.
It’s like spending your whole life at the bottom of a valley. You have everything you need. Your life is whole. And then someone takes you to the top of a mountain and you can see a million valleys and a million mountains and an endless sky. Your valley is the same, it hasn’t changed, but suddenly everything is different. Your life is still whole, but that means something else, now.
That doesn’t do it justice, but hopefully you get the picture…
No my friend, it is that you cannot fathom me comprehending parenthood without experiencing it first-hand.
You might as well go one step further and tell yourself you will never understand what it is like to be a parent because you haven’t experienced raising every single child ever born.
The horizon above the mountains is endless beyond your limited sight and sanctimonious wisdom.