There's something almost narcotic about being a new parent, even the second time around. It isn't just the blissful, bleary-eyed, wide-awake exaustion, or the clean sweet scent of "baby". It's knowing that this tiny precious person is depending on you for her every need, whether incosequential or life-and-death, and that for the next 18 years and longer- for the rest of your lives, that will stay unchanging. The needs themselves will change; the particular acrobatics and tightrope-walking required will adapt, but that singularity of "need"- that urgency of purpose- will remain. You are a parent. And somewhere in that immense ocean, the dirty laundry on the floor and the finances that are still hideous after 9 months of fixing and replanning- they just don't matter. Under the potentially crushing responsibility of guiding this new life you've created, you are free. All you do is look at her minute perfection, and bliss washes over you leaving only a smile in its wake, and life is good.
Posted by Jenn at September 29, 2005 12:01 AM