I am three
and a half weeks away from baby girl #2’s due date. Pregnancy, at least for me, both times
around, has seemed to both fly by and take forever. At this point, I can see why some people are
impatient for their newest addition’s arrival.
I am still holding out hope that this one will follow in Amelia’s
footsteps and come on her due date. No
matter when she comes, we will be thrilled and our main hope is a safe and
healthy deliver for mommy and baby.
Also, at
this point, there are many other things at war in my thoughts. First off, there are a few things we need to
get and a few things we need to get done.
If baby girl came today, we could figure it out, but it would be nice to
finish up everything ahead of her.
I’m also
nervous about the possibility of being at the elementary school where I work
rather than an one of my in-town preschools when something starts
happening. The elementary school is
about thirty minutes out of town. It
would be extra-nerve wracking if it was on a day with any winter weather. Driving in the snow while worrying about
contractions is not on my bucket list.
I know how
much Amelia’s life is about to change. I
adore that little girl and while I think a sibling is a wonderful gift to her,
I also know that her little sister will bring an entirely new set of
challenges. We will have to learn to
share more, not just toys, but also time and attention. We will have to learn how to be patient and
how to interact with someone who is smaller than her, on her turf. I don’t want to introduce so many more
restrictions into her life, so many more “no’s”. Eventually, they will be best friends; I know
we’ll get there; it just won’t be smooth sailing every moment of every day.
Most of
all, I worry about the world we’re bringing her into. This little girl will be loved. Loved unconditionally and loved by so many
people. I could not be more grateful for
that. That being said, we will teach her
that she is no better than anyone else and no one else is better than her. We will teach her that love is the
answer. Love should dictate our
actions. People matter more than our
stuff. This little girl will know that she
is smart, she is kind, she is important, she is beautiful, and any other
epitaphs that work here.
Our world, especially
over the last week and a half, has not exactly contributed to those
values. We’ve seen hate-filled language,
people insisting that they have knowledge and expertise that they do not have,
power trips, and people who contradict their own expressions of faith, especially
those who claim to value life, but only in one particular situation, when it’s
easy and convenient for them. On top of
all of that, we have seen real people hurt, turned away, ignored, robbed of
their hopes and treated as though they are less than human. None of this is ok. My girls will know that that is not ok. They
will know that we cannot stand for it.
That we cannot stand by quietly, that inaction is action, that silence
is saying something, that doing nothing is making a choice.
I’m going
to avoid going off on a tangent here; I could give you books to read, organizations
to contribute to, slogans to shout, calls to make, but I will resist….for now.
Right this
second, there are big things happening in our world and in our country. There are also big things happening (on a
much different scale) in my little family.
So, today, I will leave you with hope.
Hope that my littlest girl will make a safe and healthy entrance to this
world. Hope that she and Amelia will
grow up in a world where they know they can make a difference, where they know
that their parents have done everything they could to make a difference, to
improve our world.
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