Parenthood?

by Julie Anne Thornton

I still remember the morning my husband and I entered the cracked and mildewed bathroom of our one bedroom apartment, and peeked at the sleek plastic pregnancy test in my hand, it's small, square window glowing victoriously with a vibrant red plus sign.
We both burst into tears, hugging each other tightly, as visions of parenthood danced in our heads.

Now...my profusion of tears come for a variety of reasons as I travel down the bumpy road of parenthood.

They come when my two-year old feels the need to become my personal hairdresser while I sit at my laptop, profusing through an eternal list of e-mail.
Needless to say, we're lucky my hair has multiple layers.

They show themselves when the same two-year old decides it would be a magnificant idea to use her big sister's blue nailpolish to re-paint the stairwell.

They leak through when my kindergartner (the crown diva herself), refuses to eat anything but ham sandwiches, "two pieces, toasted, with mayonnaise, and cut into four squares".

They teeter at the corners of my eyes when my eight-year-old son decides giving Mom a kiss on the lips is no longer "cool".

Sigh. But then, I have to remind myself about the other tears, the good tears.

Like the ones that come when my toddler throws her arms around my neck, her tiny lips slathering me with a large, wet kiss.

And the way my eyes well when my sandwich diva tells me she never wants to get married, because she wants to live with me forever.

Or the sprinkling that comes as I watch my son read a story to his baby sister, making her giggle as he points out the illustrations.

Of course, I can't forget the drops that form when my almost-eleven-year-old snuggles up to me, despite her ever-nearing proximity to teenagerhood, and says "I love you Mommy."

Those tears are the best, drowning out all others filed within the "less than desirable" category.

In short, neandering through the potholes of parenthood is not always an easy task, but I have to admit, those deep cracks sure make you appreciate the smooth stretches of road.