10 things 6 months as (semi-responsible) parents has taught {us}:

Back in early September, I posted a note on Facebook titled 10 things I’ve learned my first month as “Mommy.”
 In follow up to what I learned my first month as Mommy, I thought I'd give a six-month update (well, more like 5 1/2, but 6 sounds better!) from not just Mommy, but Daddy too!

10 things 6 months as (semi-responsible) parents has taught {*us}:*Gary was a co-contributor to this post. I asked for him to give me the “meat and potatoes” version of his 5 major changes (which are in the bold).

1. Gary is now able to watch a movie or television program WITH noise in the background (the really annoying kind, like baby crying or the ice-cream truck music blaring out of jingly baby gadgets). Those of you who have known Gary long, know that he likes NOTHING to distract from anything but the commercials (loud chewing and questions about the storyline included). I remarked to him just the other day that I was “very proud that he was able to watch his game with me and Kai {loudly} playing on a blanket on the floor basically beneath him.” He just smiled like he had just realized that the shift had occurred. I guess it {thankfully} came naturally.

2. Gary is also now not so one-track minded on road trips. He is now ok with pulling over at a rest stop to, say, breastfeed, clean up a diaper blow-out or an explosive spit up without bitching about us “losing driving time” or “now having to be stuck in traffic.”(Where was this graciousness when I was desperate to pee, or craving a gas station pizza pocket?)

3. Gary is ok with wearing Kai’s red diaper-backpack…and my purse, if necessary (and NO he was definitely NOT ok with this prior to Kai). I remember the first time he was forced to carry Kai’s diaper (not BAG) BACKPACK (which I opted for because of the more masculine appeal). It was at the Umatilla County Fair. Kai was like 2-3 weeks old and we just wanted to get out of the house and enjoy a stroll around the dusty old fairgrounds on a nice summer night. I carried my little newborn Kai in a sling, and did NOT want to look like a pack-mule, so as we were unloading ourselves from the car, I motioned for Gary to take the backpack. He looked at me, disgusted, and grunted “UH-UH.” I shot him a look of death that silently said I just birthed your almost 9 lb son in the middle of summer YOU WILL WEAR THE BACKPACK!! ...and he reluctantly slipped it over his shoulders, and said “I’m not ready for this yet…” But, he had to be. And since then, he’s been a devout carrier of the red backpack, and in several instances, my purse too (I think it’s adorable.)

4. Gary is ok with drool and snot on the shoulders of his shirts. He is, I admit, cleaner than me. I don’t care so much about “imperfections” on my clothes, I think it gives my outfit character. Gary struggled with “Daddy marks” on his clothes for a few months, but has finally embraced them…or should I say “outsmarted” them (if we are going somewhere, he will strategically have a designated “drool shirt” on until we leave the house).

5. Gary is becoming increasingly "ok" with “baby clutter.” Gary HATES “stuff” (for lack of a better word) on HIS coffee table. He hates stuff on the kitchen counter, he hates stuff on the floor, on the bathroom counter, in the bathtub, on the bed, in the driveway, etc. (feel sorry for me yet?!). In all honesty, I don’t think either one of us were really ready for all of the “stuff” that the baby would bring into our once {clutterless} home. This is still going to take some time, for both of us, but he has come a LONG way. As I type, this is what I see in our living room: a exersaucer, two bibs, Kai’s cuddle giraffe and blankets on the couch and Kai’s boogiewipes, teether toys and boppy on the coffee table. (And Gary is in a great mood!).

Now Me…

6. I’m (at last) ok with starting a job, getting interrupted, and dropping it, mess and all to attend to my little mister. This is still not {easy} for me, but I can now leave an unfinished project and not spend the rest of the day stressing or feeling guilty about it (what can I say; I inherited my Mother’s type “A” personality…)

7. I can now confidently take Kai anywhere. I used to have anxiety when I had to take him somewhere new and questionable, like, say, WalMart or the Mall, or a busy restaurant at peak hours. I can happily say I am now comfortable with baby in-tow, just about anywhere (I still don’t like to take him to WalMart…)

8. I have learned that there is no single “right” way to do something. People will always have “their way” that is “absolutely right.” But really, the only “right way” to do whatever it is (feed, change, bathe, sleep) is to do it my own way. I have the best results when I do what feels right to me…not when I follow a book, my mom or the lady in front of me at Safeway.

9. I have learned to ask for help. As many of you may know, I have not always been good at this. I like to think I’m “superwoman” and can, against all odds hold my own. Well, I CAN, but it’s not fun…(see, that’s the thinking that gets me in trouble…). It was a stretch to ask a friend to watch Kai for me the first time, and I even felt like I owed my Mom and Mom-in-law something when they would take him for me. My, how this has changed. I have learned that most of my friends and family really do {want} an excuse to hang out with my sweet boy, and that I’m really not putting them out or cramping their style to ask them to watch him for an hour or two while I go to the gym or go to Costco or even better, to dinner with my man!

10. {WE} have learned to embrace ambiguity with {joy} (note my blog title!). It is not certain if Kai will need more surgery. We do not know how much we will have to pay for all of his specialist visits. We don’t know how much work Gary will have on a month-to-month basis....we have no idea what tomorrow holds.

But above all else what being parents has taught us is patience and faith.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.Matthew 6:34 (New International Version, ©2010)



Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (New International Version, ©2010)