Statistically, Darrell and I shouldn't still be married. We got married way too young. We would have gotten married even sooner if we had thought our parents wouldn't kill us and if our friends hadn't thought we were insane.
But one of the things that really helped us is that we waited to have kids until we were ready. We practiced parenting a few cats first, which was surprisingly helpful. Darrell scared (perhaps scarred?) a few of my young cousins first.
I like to think I was still a young first-time mom at 27, but we'd already been married six years by then. We really knew each other. We knew how to live together and share one tiny bathroom. We had a good foothold in our careers. And it was still hard.
Parenting is everything you hear - the best and most trying job you'll ever have. It's exhausting. It's amazing. It teaches you the true meaning of bitter sweet. The first few years you feel like you are just getting through it some days. But other days (and moments), you so wish you could freeze time and hold onto it forever.
Single moms and dads out there, I salute you. I really can't imagine doing it on my own. Thank God I have Darrell. Just when I'm thinking that he doesn't do much to help out with the kids, or around the house in general, he's gone for a bit - a business trip, or just out for the day to work on the RV - and I realize he sure must have been doing something because the household spins out of control without him.
I'm sure someday my kids will be telling their friends about all of the things Darrell and I did wrong. And I don't doubt that there will be a justifiable list. But, there are a few things we did right. We loved each other. We loved and protected them. We set boundaries and rules together. And we had them when we felt ready to be parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment