Daddy Days: The highs and lows of parenting life
The parenting life is one of constant juxtaposition. The daily highs and lows and regular contrasting pictures of peace and chaos bring to mind Dickens’ famous opening line from a "A Tale of Two Cities:" It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
In order not to co-opt that literary genius’ line for the purposes of this column, I’ll present the theme of this column in my own pithy saying about humanity: Some days you’re on a roll. Some days that roll is one of toilet paper.
And for parents, the “some days” in these opposing realities are almost always on the same day. Here’s an example.
The kids had eaten an early supper and were outside playing in the backyard. My wife and I had sat down to eat in a quiet house. It was a nice meal and we had some classical music on. A particularly appealing harpsichord piece was playing and as I started to make a remark about it, I was interrupted by a bold call from the bathroom, “Moooom, I’m done going poop!”
Apparently the boys were not all outside. And the 3-year-old was on the potty. If you were unfamiliar with the word juxtaposition at the beginning of the column, no need to look it up now. Just picture this scene.
This is the way of parenting, though, and since parenting is a microcosm of life, it’s something we’re all familiar with. Death in the spring, tears on a celebratory day, smiles amidst pain. There’s a sharpness in the world’s contrast but a clarity, too.
A baby going from peacefully sleeping to suddenly awake and raging is a near instantaneous change in situation and common to parenthood. You can adapt to or at least learn to expect the contrasts, but you can’t control them.
We’ve been from stitches to cupcakes at a party in the same day. We’ve been from flying high on pride in a kids’ actions, to grounding them in humility an hour later. We’ve had many pleasant meals together as a family amidst the wreckage of toys, and books, and socks left strewn about the house.
In those tough times with the kids at any age, or on any day, there’s a silver lining to the jarring contrasts you feel on the bumpy road of parenting. Much like the weather here in Texas, if things are uncomfortable right now, just wait a minute. They’re bound to change quickly.
Harris and his wife live in Pflugerville with their six sons. Please email comments or suggestions for future columns to thoughtsforcaleb@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: DADDY DAYS: The highs and lows of parenting life
