I know people told me this when we were pregnant. I'm sure I heard it a dozen times or so from well-wishers, friends, family members and coworkers. Then how did it take until now for me to realize that parenting is good, but not easy. That's what I've been telling people as I've returned to work, to church and to some resemblance of a normal life. Everyone wants to know how the boy is and how paternity leave was and how it is being a daddy. All I can think of is how much work it is, how much stress it causes but how much unrelenting joy God pours out on us through our little guy. Really that's the miracle of weeks 1-5. That we are stretched beyond what we thought was possible, that we are working on less sleep than we ever have and yet we wouldn't trade a second of it.
I guess if people really knew how much work parenting is they would never procreate, being scared of the prospect. I'm sure I would have been the same way, too scared to make that kind of commitment. However, now that I know what it is like to be a dad and all the joy and happiness a child can bring (I know, I know sappy cliches) I wonder, "why don't we have three or four of these things by now".
That's probably going a bit far, for now I know for sure that parenting is about the hardest thing we'll ever do, but it's also about the greatest thing we'll ever do. Good, not easy.
