Parenthood, Peaks & Valleys

"I love this parenthood gig right now.  It is such a joy to have two sparkling little children in our house, getting to play with them and take care of them together, " wrote John in an email he sent to me earlier this week.  

I agree with him.  Like everything else in life, parenting has it's ups and downs.  Peaks and valleys.  Right now, we're up, way up!  I'm trying to come up with an analogy of a partnership and all that I can think of is ice skating.  Here goes nothing: if we were skating partners, we would be scoring 10's across the board.  For sure.  

We're sticking to our guns, we're staying strong, we're a unit.  Team Day is doing it.  Last night, John gave into Burl when he fussed about something (which is something that both of us do, but we're trying to change that).  I reminded him of our pact: we don't give into fussing, a reminder that I need as well.  He took it with grace, "you're right, Meg." Got it.  Later, he put Burl in time out and I gave John a high-5 and told him he was doing the harder, better thing.  Sometimes we find ourselves giving warning after warning without following through, which is like scoring for the other team.  Those times when we follow through is a point for us that we celebrate.  Instead of butt slaps and touchdown dances, we just give each other a look and head nod that says, "that's right, we doin' it."

After meeting John for lunch today, I brought the kids home and put them down for naps.  Later, John texted me, "how did the kids go down?"  I explained to him that I had to take Burl's hammer away twice.  (I think Burl was trying to get me to spank him as his punishment so he could have his hammer back, but I'm like the US.  I don't negotiate.)  John's reply: "thanks for disciplining him."  

As I'm reading what I just wrote it makes us sound like we're running a very tight ship around here and it's parents vs. kids.  That's not how it is.  With the focus on following through with discipline, I'm also smiling big at the fun times.  I'm loving the times that the four of us play on the floor.  I'm loving being at one changing table with a dirty diaper, John being at the other changing table with a dirty diaper, and yelling back and forth, 

"Hey John, we're changing our children's diapers."

"I know.  We have children.  And we change their diapers."

"It hurts doesn't it?"

"Yeah.  I love them."

"I love them too."

The encouragement that John gives me in the midst of disciplining is so great.  I need it.  I feel appreciated and noticed when he does that.  The time we just play with toys and read books and laugh with our kids fills me to the brim.  And I'm right there with him, loving this parenthood gig with him.

Right now, we're on a mountain top of parenting.  The view is great.  We can look behind us and see that we've been through some valleys.  That's ok, because like everything, parenting has it's ups and downs.  The key is knowing where we are along the way, and knowing if we need to change anything.