"Are you ready to meet your babies?" That's one of the last words my doctor said to me before he delivered our children. Wow. I don't know that anyone can truly grasp the feeling it is to be a parent, to love someone so unconditionally, until you become one.
I knew I had an incredible responsibility ahead of me, but I don't know that I really stopped to think about all those little things that I would be teaching them. Well...not so little actually, but things for example, like talking. Whether with intention or not, I am helping them to build their vocabulary. Studies show (you will find that the number of sentences that start with "studies show that..." will dramatically increase once you have children. LOL) that a baby of a mother suffering depression will not only have a much smaller vocabulary, but a lower IQ. It makes sense to me. A woman who is depressed isn't going to interact and talk as much to her baby as a woman who is in good spirits. If you don't constantly talk to your baby, how is he/she going to learn how to communicate using words? RD teases me sometimes, but I am always talking with (or to rather) our babies. I always explain what I'm doing (i.e., changing diaper, putting left sock on, burping them, etc.). I'm also, selfishly, pointing at myself saying "mama" or "mommy" several times throughout the day. LOL
The conversations RD and I had while I was pregnant regarding our parenting consisted primarily of discipline (and of course how much love we would shower them with!). I think it's normal to examine your own childhood, and also, the parenting skills of those around you, to make judgements on what kind of parent you think you should and will be. Many things will change of course, it's a learn-as-you-go job, but I think it's important to have an action plan (so-to-speak) as you go into it. I want to know that RD and I are going into this as a team - that, hopefully, when we reach some of the big decisions (e.g., schooling, to spank or not to spank, etc.), we have a general idea of where the other stands. We're both careful not to say, "Our kids will never..." or "We'll never let them...". I realize it's easy to sit back and predict what wonderful, perfect kids we'll have...they'll be perfectly happy not to ever drink soda, eat fast food, watch too much tv...LOL...but it's never that easy.
Only time will tell what sort of parents we'll be. But for now, I'm throwing discipline out the window, and I'm focusing on being the most loving, caring mother I can be. I'm sure we'll #%@& things up from time to time, but our children will be secure in knowing they have a family that loves them, and will always be there for them, no matter what. No matter what.
