The birth of our children is the most wonderful thing that happened in our marriage,
a treasure that we have cherished all these years. It made our lives more meaningful
and made our relationship stronger. It gave a test to our patience, love and respect for
each other and belief in God.
Parenting is not an easy task. It means hardship and sacrifices. It is an
obligation of both parents.
As a young couple, our life didn't come very easy. We have gone through problems which
a family normally encounter but it made us stronger and more responsible.
Grace gave up her job as early as her first trimester of our first baby due to prolonged pain at her back. From then on, she stayed at home caring for our new treasure. We helped each other in taking care of the baby. We alternately wake up at night in feeding her. During days-off, I make it a point to handle everything myself especially at night. In doing so, we found comfort in each other and found meaning in our marriage. In our case, we both learned how to bathe her, change diapers, clean the bottles and prepare the formula. Learning all these things is fun especially when both do it together. Parenting is a mutual task. Neither can rely on the other partner; we give each other's part. But, it does not mean a 50-50 share, instead one is complementing the other.
As our girl grow, she started asking so many things about herself, the things around
her and all possible questions that may come to her mind. This stage is very crucial
to our children because they start to learn things around them.
My three-year old kid always asks me things repeatedly. We always make sure to answer her
back patiently. We normally return her the question to boast her reasoning skills.
At this age, our child has so much to learn. We feed her with every knowledge that may
come her way. For instance, when we see a school, we tell our child that it's a place
where young people like her go to learn. If we see a flag, we tell her something about it;
describe its color and shape. The next time we come across with this school or this flag,
we let her tell something about it.
After three years, our second baby girl came.
Things are different when you have two kids, in our case a three-and-a-half-year old
and a five-month old. Each of them require specific attention. When both of us are at home,
we attend to them alternately giving no chance for jealosy. When the baby is asleep, we both
give full attention to our eldest so she would always feel the comfort of her parents. But
we explain to her the baby needs special care because she's still too young. We let her
participate in caring for the baby like handling the towel or helping fix the
diaper, letting her feel she's important and she has a role to her younger sister.
When our child asks us to play, we give her time; she keeps the toys herself too after
playing. We teach them how to accept "no" for an answer. And in our busy schedule, we always
find time to talk to our children each day or each week.
Grace does not override my decision as a father; this is to maintain my authority in the
family. At night, we always pray together and let our child lead from time to time.
Related topics:
Family planning with the use of contraceptives
Qualities of a good husband and a good wife
Top
