Thank you, good night

Well, that time has finally come; time to pack up the diaper bag and mosey a little further on down that parenting trail, a bit older, hopefully a bit wiser.

My kids are now three and one, and we’re done. So if you see me blogging here again, you’ll know that something has gone horribly afoul.
One thing that’s finally sinking in, oddly enough, is that we are a family. A marriage is a partnership, but having kids makes you incorporated. We are a whole unit now, a brand, with a logo and t-shirts and everything. We will stand up for one another, by one another, and will live and grow together for the next, well, loooooong time.
It does go fast, though. Everyone says it, and who am I but just another one? Even as we’re in it, I can feel that baby head smell getting fainter and fainter, those toes getting bigger and bigger. I used to pause when walking around the car to my daughter’s seat, play a little peekaboo to giggles every time. Now I might get a smile, but she’s more interested in the world around me now.
You know it can’t last forever, the morning smiles and cheap laughs. We know it, but that doesn’t stop us from hoping. The days of bringing her into bed to sleep between us may already be gone, and we just don’t realize it. Like concert goers still waiting for the encore. It happens that fast.
Then one day they have opinions. They start yelling at their little sisters and stealing toys and saying no and lying and the whining, ohhhhh the whining, and you find yourself in a whole new arena. Behaviors, phases, terrible twos, whatever. What worked yesterday suddenly doesn’t take. The game has changed, without notice or even explanation; another setback to your confidence, another kick in the parental gut.
Here’s the secret that I’m still learning: Just when you start to figure things out, that very moment where you’re like ‘Yeah, I got this,’ it’s THEN and only then that things change. That’s what makes this whole parenting business so confusing. Parenting is the original on-the-job training that never ends.
Right now, HP loves to grab a book, yell “Lap!” and crawl right up on you and hand you the book. Relish those moments. File them away somewhere deep in the memory vaults. Take more pictures and videos than you could possibly need. And enjoy the ride.
I want to thank the wonderful editors and staff at Pregnancy and Newborn. It’s been a pleasure working with all of you, and you’ve been very kind and ego-soothing. Thanks to my awesome wife, who gave me two beautiful children to write about. And thanks to all of you reading—best of luck to you and yours. If you want to read more, you can always check me out at PARENTITHESIS. Thank you, good night.