Thinking outside the box

I went to an event not long ago and one of the speakers was talking about the importance of mothers milk versus formula. It was so interesting on one hand and sort of sad on the other since I will be adopting a child not creating my family through birth.

It did however cause me to start thinking of parenting and all that goes with it and looking forward to creating an environment in my home specific for my child and their needs. What makes one child different from another and how do you recognize the potential in your child versus what you want them to become. I know their is a plan and purpose for each of us and I want to learn to think outside the box of what is expected and get in tune with exactly what this child will need to grow up feeling loved and nurtured.

I think we have to look at parenting as an art. You have to learn how to shade and color and item but you have to look intently as to what the item is and hear the color it's calling out to be.

Motherhood: The New Frontier!

I wonder what astronauts think when they enter space for the very first time. They have all the textbook knowledge but textbooks and reality can be two very different things.

I feel that way about motherhood. I vacillate between excitement and how I will feel with only a few hours of sleep and having to get up and change a diaper or make a bottle or go to work! How do they do it all?

One friend recently told me "I'm going to tell you exactly how it is. Get used to not having enough sleep and give up the thought that you can do it all. Cleaning the house may have to go on the back burner on days when you really need to just get on the floor with your little one and watch them grow up." I think this is the best advice I've gotten so far. I have always thought of mothers as superwomen but even Superwoman needs the calm breeze for her wings to take flight. I have now come to the conclusion that great mothers have to credit the great women they rely on to help them get there, the real super women.

So What's Next?

Many of us end up with the family of our dreams, either through IVF, adoption or a blended family. And after all the hoopla of a tender pregnancy, a mountain of paperwork, a lifetime's worth of doctor's visits or a miracle of circumstances that results in one, two or three children, we may finally have the time to turn to our husband and say, "So what's next?"

After such an up and down roller coaster of a life seeking a family, we may not have paid much attention to how our family will function in our life and in our world. We are right there with you! Becoming parents, becoming a mother or father is now almost a larger challenge than what we have just been through. We can't forget how we got here, and yet we must integrate our family into the lives of our extended family, our neighbors, our church and our work families.

What challenges have you encountered? What hopes and dreams have you had a hard time seeing happen? What perfections of being a mother have surprised you?

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