It's been an emotional week. I'm not ashamed to say I drove down the freeway to Geelong on Wednesday listening to Barack Obama's acceptance speech on the radio quietly weeping tears of joy. When Ari chimed in from the back seat wanting to know "why the people were singing Yes We Can", I started up again.
But I got to thinking about emotions and how they take over you when you have a child.
I've mused from time to time on this blog about the vast gulf BC (before child) and AC (after child). I thought I knew what having a child would be like. I was wrong, like nearly all new parents are. You can't possibly know how much work it will be, how much effort it takes and how much it will change your life. But above all, you can't ever imagine what it feels like. And it's the feeling part of it all that matters most. When your child cries, it actually hurts inside. It feels terrible. When they are upset, you feel distraught. When they are ill, your whole world stops.
A friend recently told me how much she finally got this when she had her own son. She recalled a time she was walking with me with Ari in his pram when he was a small baby. He was crying and I kept stopping the pram, trying everything I could to make him stop. At the time, she thought I was trying to stop him cry so it didn't disturb her. Now, after having her own child, she realises I was trying to make him stop because it was upsetting me so much.
