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Parenting never ceases to amaze |
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By Laura El Alam, IFN Columnist
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
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Page 1 of 2 Who realizes, upon holding their newborn child in their arms for the very first time, that they are about to embark on one of the most challenging and rewarding, exhausting and exhilarating adventures of their lives?
We are so caught up in our baby's soft skin and sweet breath that we are blissfully unaware that we are embarking on an intense and relentless on-the-job training session that will last the rest of our lives.
One of the amazing things about parenthood is how much we learn along the way. Children have a way of bringing out the best and the worst in us. They never cease to amaze, challenge and befuddle us.
Sometimes we glow with satisfaction when we see what amazing human beings they are becoming; other times, the job of parenting feels like psychological torture and an extreme sport rolled into one.
One thing is certain: experienced parents can look back on their early days of parenthood and realize they have learned a great deal over the years.
For instance, the type of man who, in his younger and child-free days, saw a toddler throwing a tantrum and thought smugly, "My child will never do that," inevitably becomes the father whose two-year-old has an embarrassing, 40-minute meltdown in an airport terminal. This desperate father ends up purchasing a cup of ridiculously overpriced airport orange juice for his frantic son and singing, "Old MacDonald had a Farm," complete with life-like animal noises, while glaring at anyone who dares to look his way.
The type of mother who gleefully filled a closet with dresses, ribbons and frilly socks in preparation for her long-awaited daughter oftentimes becomes the bewildered parent of a girl who insists on wearing jeans, ragged t-shirts and sneakers.
This mother eventually gives up on her fantasy of tea parties and doll houses and wisely invests in helmets, pads and shin guards.
We live and learn, and if we approach parenthood with the knowledge that our children are simultaneously blessings and tests from Allah, we will end up more sympathetic, less judgmental, and replete with the wisdom only parenthood can achieve.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 February 2010 )
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