Married with children

I've been a parent for nearly seven years now and I can only honestly say now that I am really just beginning to enjoy being one.

When I first became a parent, of course I was thrilled, as most first time parents would be. As time went on, each day your little boy or girl did something new and amazing and you thought to yourself wow! It's great to be a parent! Isn't life amazing! The work was always there – sleep deprivation, torn between advice from parenting authorities (be they parenting books or grandmas or maids or nosey friends), guilt trips for when you lose it and snapped, guilt trips for when you realized you've been neglecting your partner. the list goes on an on. At times it was hard not to feel trapped and thought to myself when is this all going to end.

And then you started to gain a bit more confidence, you began to think you are finally getting the hang of it. How to be assertive and authoritative without compromising their independence. How to love them without spoiling them. How to be their friend without letting them bully you. Without you bullying them. How to say to them and to yourself “it's okay” and REALLY mean it.

After seven years, somehow, it really is becoming clearer to me what parenting is all about. Like anything that is genuinely rewarding, pain, hard work, time, and frustration are unavoidable but eventually you DO get it and the rewards are truly those that make you look up to the stars and say God, I am truly blessed!