The Calling

There are some definite rights of passage that parents go through as you grow your family.  Your first diaper change, the first trip outside the home with your new baby, the first words, the first tooth, first steps, and numerous other firsts that just solidify your role as parents.  All of these are very special and are events that you will never forget.  However, there always seems to be certain ones that stick out above all others.  One of the more memorable rights of passage for me was when we went from two children to three.  Until that point, I thought we had the parenting thing down pat.  But, that all changed upon the birth of our third child.  All of a sudden, we were no longer playing man to man defense.  Zone defense became a necessity and completely changed the parental dynamic.  Triage became our life.  My wife and I were outnumbered, and there was no going back.  No longer could we attend to every whim of our 2 year old and 1 year old at the very minute they needed something.  We were forced (for the better, mind you), to evaluate needs versus wants and prioritize our efforts to attend to the greatest need(s) at the time.   

It was going through this right of passage that solidified, at least for me, that my wife had found her calling.  Don't get me wrong, her parenting and mothering abilities shined with our first two boys, but the moment we were out numbered, when things seemed to get infinitely harder, the level of patience, the sense of calm she exuded,  was, and still is one of her unbelievable and enviable talents.  I, being wound a little tighter than most, have realized that it will be a lifetime quest to try and reach even a fraction of the patience she has for our children.  She brings calm to our house, and I love her for it.  

Now, the arrival of our third child also brought about another right of passage, it was the point we went from having two boys to having two boys and a little girl.  This was a magical time for both of us, but I could see a little extra glimmer in my wife's eyes.  Now, she loves our boys like there is no tomorrow, but I think the arrival of the first little girl, for a mother, immediately fills a space in a mother's heart that a son just cannot fill.  All the visions of princess tea parties, cute little dresses, hair bows, earrings, American Girl dolls, pink and purple clothes and mother - daughter days out all of a sudden are no longer a dream, but are real.  My wife is proud of all of our children (as am I), but the day our first little girl was born I saw a sense of pride that I can only equate to the same sense of pride that I felt when we realized our first child would be a son.