Starting a family

It's amazing how quickly the baby "itch" comes on. Two years ago I would have said that children were a long, long way off, but the maternal instinct snuck up on me like a blow horn.  Three of my dearest friends recently had babies, and then my sister gave birth to a beautiful little girl and bam! - I want a baby of my own. Before, I really liked children, but I also enjoyed the ability of handing them back to their parents at the end of the night. Now, I want someone else to hand my child over to me at the end of the night.


I can't wait to be pregnant and become overprotective of my little one growing inside. I can't wait to go through morning sickness and then feel the baby kick for the first time. I even look forward to watching my belly grow. (Although, I pray I have some of my sister's genes and have her ability to lose the weight quickly)...

I can't wait to hold my child in my arms and raise him or her to be good citizens who are kind, compassionate and responsible. I'd like to believe that I'll be a good parent who will love my child unconditionally and have the patience to do as great of a job parenting as my mom and dad did for me. I wasn't always the easiest person to be around, but my parents taught me to work hard, be polite and make wise decisions. I strive to do those things, although I admit sometimes while my intentions are good, I don't always follow through on the wise-decisions part. But another thing that my parents taught me is to learn from my mistakes and I can honestly say that I do... most of the time. These qualities are what I hope to pass on to the next generation.

I look at my 6 month old niece and yearn to be able to give her and my other nieces and nephew a cousin. Will I know immediately how to be a good parent? I hope so, but I'm also realistic that it will take some practice. I hope that my maternal instinct kicks into overdrive and I can give my own child the love and attention that my mother gave to me. Hopefully someday in the near future, I'll be writing that this newfound dream has come true.

In the meantime, I'll focus my energy on being an aunt who spoils her nieces and nephew and a dogmom who spoils her 4-month old labradoodle to pieces.