The joys of Parenting

Being a parent is filled with such amazing things that you never thought of before. I recently asked my husband at what point does it occur to you that smelling a childs butt is normal. It has to happen sometime when you are in the hospital giving birth, or watching your child be born (whichever side of that you might be on) becuase previous to this time you would never hold a child at eye level by the armpits and sniff delicately in the posterior region to detect the telltale odor of a poopy diaper. People that would never previously make total morons of themselves saying silly words in even sillier voices over and over again find themselves doing just that in a effort to coax a belly laugh, coo, giggle or smile out of thier child almost immediately upon the arrival of said adorable bundle of joy. Strange words become a part of your vocabulary; paci, ba-ba, toofie, and my all time favorite (courtesy of my nephew) pabis. And when did you ever think that you would sit in the floor two feet in front of your six month old child who is on thier hands and knees and coach for half and hour on how to crawl. By the way you can show a baby this particular skill, or any other for that matter, and it will have only the affect that they will coo and giggle at you so profusely that they will probably fall over, meaning that you will have to set him or her back upon all fours and begin again.

But even with all these things there are even more unexpected things, like how you never expect that watching a baby inch forward and crawl the first time would be more exciting to you than any event ever in the history of your life. Or that feeling that first little tooth would bring on tears of joy the likes of which you haven't seen since they day that your child was born. Putting away all the clothes that they have outgrown and thier baby carseat in favor of one that is bigger will inspire tears of an entirely different sort. There are things that nobody tells you about being a parent, and I think that I have figured out why. First there are no words to describe so much of what you feel and learn. Second the thrill of learning those things for yourself can never be expressed.