Having a kid is great; some might say it's the best thing a (sufficiently mature and financially stable) person can experience. I would agree. However, the greatness is hard to explain while the struggles are easy to see. The average person doesn't think your baby's first smile or roll-over is the greatest thing ever but probably thinks a baby crying or lack of sleep is the worst thing ever. You get used to those things. There is no doubt parenting changes you.
Like just about everyone else, I love food. The other day I made the most beautiful bacon and cheese omelet I've ever made. It was a perfect light brown on the outside and melty on the inside. I had my toast buttered and was ready to eat (note: I thought about using the word "nosh" but I couldn't do it. It's a recent addition to my top 3 least favorite words list. Just writing it makes me cringe.). As I was getting my fork Owen woke up from his nap and started crying, he needed a bottle. Karen was at work so it was up to me. In the past, just about anything could wait if food was on the table. Not anymore, I calmly put down my fork and fed Owen with only a single forlorn glance back at my omelet. I eventually got to eat my cold masterpiece and soggy toast. All that is to say, priorities change and you're happy to do it.
I love relaxing on the couch almost as much as I love food but now we spend a lot of time on the floor with Owen. First it was trying to get him to roll over, then sit up and now crawl. I am on the floor just about from the time I get home from work until Owen goes to bed. The other night I had just made dinner (a cheddar, bacon and guacamole hamburger if you're scoring at home) and was headed upstairs to watch TV while I ate. Owen was already asleep and Karen was at the grocery store so it was just me. I was halfway through my hamburger when I looked around and realized I was all by myself sitting on the floor eating my dinner, right in front of a perfectly comfortable couch. I thought "what's going on?" "how old am I?" I gave the non-existent camera a Jim Halpert look and kept on eating. The floor isn't that comfortable but still our furniture had become pointless.
At the beginning I said a baby is a great thing for a sufficiently mature and financially stable person, I suppose you can never be too financially stable but you can definitely be too mature. And if you are, it takes all the fun out of it. You'll see and hear things that would make a 12-year old laugh and if you're not able to laugh you'll just be grossed out and miss out on some of the funniest moments of your life. I had a point to this post but I got up on my soapbox and lost sight of it. Kids aren't always great but YOUR kid is always great; they'll make you do funny things and will do funny things to you. I think that was it. Seven months makes me an expert, right?
