The Changing Relationships In Your Life When Parenthood Is Around The Corner
When we are about to enter the world of parenting we tend to become relatively introspective. We know that there is no greater job in the world than raising a child, and it’s not uncommon to start looking around and wondering if you have done all that you’re supposed to in order to prepare. While we know that the emotional ups, downs, and all arounds are going to be insane, most of us want to feel physically prepared when emotional preparedness just isn’t completely possible.
Becoming a parent is a lot like walking through the mystery door. You have no idea what’s on the other side or exactly how it’s going to change you. You only know that you want to walk through the door and that you’re ready for whatever changes might come your way. Since there’s no way to prepare for what we don’t know, the process can be very much like tumbling through a vast rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows.
We prepare the physical world as best we can so that we feel more prepared for the emotional changes. We stick the Evenflo convertible car seat in the car two weeks before the due date. Yet we restrain ourselves from challenging our parents on their choice of disciplinary tactics when we were growing up.
Neatly stacking the baby bath towels in the linen closet doesn’t prevent us from questioning whether our best friend and the behaviors that go with them is really in our new family’s best interest. Yet we can often find that the more we keep the new baby belongings in order and ready to go the more in control we feel despite our need to examine every relationship.
Thoughts of our compatibility with our significant other do not quiet just because we have the baby toiletries set up beside the cute little baby bath tubs. What happens if we are walking into parenthood with the wrong partner? What if we were really meant to be with someone else and yet we bring a child into the world together? The thoughts can be overloading, taxing, and not always even all that centered in reality.
Questions at this stage are part of preparing. Your relationship dynamics may very well change. They may even change drastically from one relationship to another. It’s a normal part of evolving into a part.
Taking it all in as it comes, allowing your brain to work through it, and recognizing the issues that are real and pressing will help to uncover the changes that actually need to be made.
Tags: changes, parenthood, Parenting