What's today's "Thought for the day"?

I have a million and one thoughts running through my head this morning, and I can't figure out which one to blog about...So I guess I'll just type down the first thing that comes to mind...

If you have a child(ren), you know how frustrating/challenging/scary life can be. When we got pregnant with my son, I was ecstatic. After all, we had tried for three and a half years to get pregnant with no success, and then a round of in vitro did the trick. I thought that everything was going to be perfect from there on out, and aside from the morning (and by morning I mean ALL-DAY) sickness my first trimester, my pregnancy was a breeze, the delivery was a breeze (really, it was), but then came the first night with my little miracle.

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD! That's when I knew life as we knew it was going to change dramatically, and everything would most definitely NOT be perfect. He cried when he was hungry, he cried when he was wet, he cried when he was tired, etc., etc... Not to mention I had no success with breastfeeding which made my baby-blues even worse. The first three weeks were the most difficult for me. I cried ALL THE TIME. I tried to get out of the house by myself once, but halfway to Wal-Mart, I got so dizzy I thought I was going to pass out, so I turned around and went home. I was so used to being independent, to just having lots of "me" time, and now I had to take care of a baby (with the help of my husband, who, by the way, is most of the time better with him than I am). Thank goodness for my husband and my parents; without their help, I would be somewhat incompetent. Really, I don't have a clue how single parents do it. I asked one once, and she told me she just DOES. Kudos to her!

Anyway, with time, everything definitely got easier. Well, not exactly EASIER, but I just became more capable of handling a helpless being. And I learned how to give up some of my "me" time and focus on someone other than myself. Brad's and my date nights now included a baby. Romantic, isn't it?

I love watching my little man grow up. I loved watching him learn how to crawl when he was six months old, loved watching him learn how to feed himself when he was seven months, loved watching him take his first steps when he was 10 1/2 months, and of course, LOVE that he's a bit more independent now at 18 months. He is now at that stage where he's hitting everything and challenging everyone. Spanking is not an option for me (though all my friends tell me I'm crazy); I mean really, why would you spank a child who just hit you? To me, that's just teaching them that hitting is okay. I guess it works for some kids, but I'm not even going to find out if it works for mine. ;-) Time-outs will have to do for now, and I get lots of my inspiration from "Super Nanny." :-) That woman is a genius. Wish she'd come to my house just for a week and tame my kid too, though. Maybe I'll call her...

He was a daddy's boy when he was a baby, and I think that's changed a bit--well, a lot. He still loves his daddy, but he's a mama's boy like I've never seen one. I constantly worry about something happening to me and him being without a mother, but I know that fear has no place in my home. I just have to pray through those thoughts.

Anyway, I'm rambling, so I'll stop now and get to work. Tune in next time! :-)