Where Would We Be Without Them?

Five and a half years ago, in the midst of a chaotic time for my husband and me, we were blessed with the birth of our first daughter, Daphne. Our lives improved from that moment forward by 1000%. Fast forward three years and eleven months to our next addition: Scarlett. We didn’t think it could get any better, but she happily proved us wrong.

But what if they never were? What would our lives be like now? First, let’s think about all of the things we would be able to do:

• Go out whenever we want, without worrying about having to find a babysitter
• Save money instead of hemorrhaging it away on daycare and diapers
• Sleep late every weekend
• Watch R-rated movies during the day, if we feel like it
• Leave small and breakable objects lying, without worry of little fingers grabbing them or choking on them
• And…well, I can’t really think of anything else

If we didn’t have children, we would be able to do any of those things. It would be wonderful! However, there would also be things that we would miss, like these:

• See a smile directed our way and know that we are the absolute nucleus of someone else’s universe
• Hear “mama” and “dada” for the first time…and then, over, and over, and over again for years
• Sharing childhood toys with our own children, and actually getting to play with them again
• Sticky hugs and kisses
• Being woken up by a small being standing right next to the bed, inches from your face, and staring silently
• Watching our babies sleep
• Making smiley-face pancakes and feeling like a superhero
• Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy
  
  
• Going trick-or-treating on Halloween, even with the baby, and getting to sneak some of the loot (they don’t need all that chocolate, anyway!)
• The first day of school, and the end of the first day of school
• Family vacations that require a million bathroom breaks, several time-outs, and at least one thousand “Are we there yet?”s
• Constant laughter and amusement at everything our children say and do
• Teaching them about the world and watching their eyes light up as they take it all in for the first time
• Bath time splashing, with lots of bubbles
• Hearing “I love you,” and knowing that you will remember how freely they told you even when they’re teenagers and are yelling the opposite at you
• And…about a billion other wonderful things

Basically, our life would be pretty boring without our beautiful babies. Sure, we would get to indulge ourselves sometimes, but it wouldn’t be as fun. It wouldn’t be a treat if we did it all the time, anyway.

We would be going to work, coming home, going through the daily routines only to start over again. There would be fewer surprises and not nearly as many reasons for doing what we do.

Where would we be without them? We would be lost.

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