Anna P . Fox contributing writer
My Baby
Love
I pretty much didn ’ t sleep at all last night . Between Emma ’ s stuffy nose and cough and her need to be held , I was up the better part of the six hours between finally getting to bed myself and my alarm . Not to mention the projectile vomit that occured when she got choked by said cough and the second round of baths and then laundry that had to be done after ... When this happens I am incredibly thankful for a helpful husband , a good recliner and some Vicks vapor rub . My mom and grandma swore by it and now I know why . When all else fails , Vicks can get you through some rough nights .
It takes a lot of love to raise this little girl , and I hear she ’ s pretty “ easy ,” whatever that means . The dying to self each & every day . The sleepless nights . The pedicure budget replaced with Kindermusik classes . Lots of worrying and praying and lots of living life with the amazing realization that this little growing person is in your charge , your care , and the constant fear that you could be doing it all wrong . Motherhood serves as a continuous reminder for me to lean on Jesus . And then people tell me to “ just wait ,” because apparently the next one ’ s going to come out as some uncontrollable furry monster in a low-budget film . Is that right ? If I had a dime for every time someone says , “ if we had had our second child before our first , we would have stopped there ...” If you ’ re actually trying to freak us single-child parents out , it ’ s working !
I watch our Emma grow everyday and I listen to her talk and it makes me appreciate and love every child I have ever loved that much more . Kids are amazing the way they grow and learn . At two-years-old , she surprises me everyday with what she says , what connections she ’ s made , and how much she shows me about myself . Precious , funny , many times embarrassing ways she mirrors how we act and live life- she ’ s an amazing understudy . It ’ s been the hardest , but also the most eyeopening for me to understand that we literally have to teach them everything : how to act , how to react , how to grow , how to talk , how to sleep , how to eat . Sure , they will learn some on their own , but there ’ s a certain amount of guidance that each of those areas requires as we try to steer them into happy , healthy children . At least , that ’ s my humble perspective . And it ’ s not easy . But it is rewarding and it is worth it .
Christmas back in our home this year was incredibly fun and special . We
“ Motherhood serves as a continuous reminder for me to lean on Jesus .”
surrounded ourselves with family and tried our best to simply recreate our favorite things about Christmas from our childhoods for our own little family . We spent hours building a mini kitchen set from some of our upper kitchen cabinets that were spared from the flood . We baked cookies and let her help , making huge messes and cleaning them up one after another . We went to see Christmas lights , read tons of Christmas books , and visited our advent calendar each night to learn about Jesus and his journey to the stable . I loved every minute of this holiday season and all the new memories we made . I thought about that last night while I was holding her and trying to find a happy place to drift back off to sleep . Nothing compares to this , it ’ s true .
My friends have talked plenty about what happens when you begin preparing for a second child , apart from the aforementioned fact that he / she will be the complete opposite of the first . You see how quickly your tiny little baby disappeared to become the toddler or preschooler she is now and you simultaneously hope for another chance to hold another baby of your own . Then you fear that you could never produce enough love to possibly parent two of these little lives at the same time .
We are there I suppose ; perfectly content with our family of three but wondering what the future might hold for our thoughts of growing our foxes den . And today , watching her play as if she had slept all night , I was so thankful but dreading the nighttime coming , praying she ’ ll sleep through so we can all get some rest . The thought crossed my mind again , as it so often does lately , how on Earth would we have enough love to survive another ?
I know , just like anything else , it will come . Our good Father will equip us for whatever He calls us to do . If parenting a second child is that calling , we have nothing to fear . Our daily challenges will multiply while simply becoming the new norm . But in the meantime , it ’ s a long night of wondering whether there ’ s enough love in the bank to survive parenting on two hours or less .
72 FABRUARY 2017 SHEMAGAZINE . COM