Parenting

[CN: pregnancy, birth] I’ve always considered myself pretty open-minded, but honestly, before I had my first baby, I probably would’ve scoffed at a lot of the so-called “crunchier” parenting tactics that I now consider quite normal.

We had to walk through the casino. To a 2-year-old, hell is a room full of buttons you aren’t allowed to push. To the parent of a 2-year-old, hell is a room full of buttons your 2-year-old isn’t allowed to push, plus cigarette smoke.

“Oh, great!” Says the woman on the other end of the line. “Our waitlist is only about 18 months right now.” Not a typo.

[CN: childbirth, pregnancy] "You're asking for C-section? You?!" [my obstetrician] almost shrieked.

I always loved you. Even when you weren’t speaking to me. Even when you scratched my face out of a family picture. Even when you slammed the door and said, “You’re not my parent.” Even when we fought about school and grades. Even when you were a teenager and didn’t come home at night and Dad and I stayed up all night scared to death, wondering where you were.

Life is pretty normal now — whatever that means — but I’ll always look back on our first few weeks home with our newly-adopted kids and compare it to surviving some kind of parenting boot camp or extended sorority hell week.

Ah, kids. Strange little creatures with magical abilities to hide your stuff when you need it the most. You know, like when you’re about to walk out the door to an already late appointment and are faced with an impromptu game of ‘where’s my keys/phone/wallet’.

No matter what parents decide, what should NOT be up for debate is the importance of the decision and who gets to weigh in on it.