I felt somewhat pathetic the other day, when I told my friend that I was looking forward to my birthday weekend (next week), because Savta Shira said she would baby sit, while I got to take a nap. Most years, pre-Raphaela, I have checked into a luxurious spa for three days and pampered myself in honor of my birthday, and this year I am looking forward to...a nap.
However, I am probably the happiest I have ever been, I cannot imagine a life without my daughter. The joy I get when I see her learn a new skill, or see her smile in the morning, surpasses anything I could have imagined.
In a recent editorial piece in the Boston Globe, Joanna Weiss summed up these feelings, about what she calls the "essential human experience": (Title: "Parental bliss, or lack of"):
"Parenthood is filled with blissful, transcendent moments, family ticklefests on the bed and games of catch in the backyard. But on a minute-to-minute basis, it's largely food service, logistics, tantrum management and arguments about personal grooming. And unconditional love, which is hard to overstate...
Which is to say that having kids isn't rational at all. It's a deep-seated primal urge, something you succumb to, even though you are relatively certain it will ruin your social life...
[P]arenthood does have advantages beyond those fleeting moments of transcendence. It helps you connect to your community. It forces you to meet your neighbors. It fills your house with laughter. It's an excellent excuse for buying toys."
Happy birthday to me.
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