The Role of a Lifetime

I just finished reading Allison Pearson's new book, I Think I Love You.  It's sort of about David Cassidy fans - I was more of a Shawn Cassidy girl, but that's not really relevant.  I won't tell you about the photo I had of him over my bed that was smeared with little girly kisses.  Sigh...  Anyway, back on topic, there is a great line in the book about being a mother (and it goes for fathers, too).

The the baby years passed, like an April shower, and the hard bit turned out to be the easy part, only you didn't find out until it was over.  Motherhood was like being in a play and only ever having the lines for the scene you were in at any given moment.  By the time you figured out how to play the part, the curtain dropped and it was on to the next act.

Ach - this is so true!  It feels like it takes forever to figure out nursing an infant; when you finally get it, it's time to move on to solids and sippy cups and holding their own fork.  And when you've figured out feeding them, they suddenly decide against eating anything that isn't a chicken nugget.  There are a million other things that you have to figure out before they change, too - but I had no idea simply keeping them well-fed would be so damn stressful.  With one kid, it wasn't such a big deal to modify what the grown-ups were eating to be more kid-friendly - but as we got more kids they all decided to be different and like/dislike different things (what is up with that - how dare they be individuals!).

The food issues and finickiness are a simple metaphor for the other parts of raising kids.  Teaching them to be good, well-adjusted people is a big responsibility that isn't as easy as it sounds.  And it never fails, when I finally hit my groove, the music changes - lately it's turning more into a death metal rage instead of a nice Do You Believe in Magic beat.