Thoughts On Children

Children.
The source of joy and happiness in our lives.  They are also, many times, the reason for many of our tears.  One example: Every time my daughter smiles, my heart swells with joy.  Every time I must take her for her Well-Baby visit at the doctor for her shots, those peircing wails break my heart as I cry along with her.  They say that a baby is something you carry in your belly for 9 months, in your arms for 3 years, and in your heart forever.  Another popular quote said, "The decision to have a child is to forever have your heart walking around outside your body."  My mother used to tell me that one all the time.  I always knew she meant it.  It just never grew wings until the day my daughter was born.
Sometimes I just stare at my daughter as she sleeps and its as if I can feel my heart growing.  I used to think that was what had occured when I would look at my husband while he slept after we were first married.  But now its entirely different.  When you watch this child, you are watching new life.  It's a clean slate with a plethora of possibilities.  They could grow up to be many different things.  They haven't made any of the mistakes of an older life and hold such a pure innocense.  It's simply beautiful.  When I hold her in my arms, I feel like I'm holding the entire world.  She is the future.  I'm sure that every mother can relate to the depth of feeling you have when you stare into your child's eyes and begin to wonder where they'll go, what they'll do, who they'll become.  It's almost surreal.  She is the joy in my life, the sunshine in my world.  I am convinced there is nothing quite as wonderful and fulfilling than to be a mother.