Our Story: Deciding to Have Children

The question was "How did you know you wanted to be a parent?"

My response:

I've always known that I would most likely have kids some day. I did, however, tell people that I would be willing to pass up the opportunity of having kids if I replaced it with a lot of traveling. If some day I could be in a conversation with anyone and they asked me "have you ever been to..." my response would be "yes"... That would be awesome! There are so many places in the world that I want to see. Lots that I have seen and I'd want to see again. Lots that I haven't seen yet. So I did feel like if I could replace the children with lots of travel then I'd be willing to give up that opportunity.

As a result we did try to travel as much as possible before having Ellie. We've been to a lot of places in Europe and it's neat for us to watch travel shows (like with Rick Steves) and see that we've seen many of the places they often talk about. But there's still so much more to see. One of Michael's ideas, which I LOVE, was to come up with a Worldwide Treasure Hunt List. We have items on the list from all the places we'd love to visit (locally and internationally). Some of the many items we have already found include: glass rose from Venice, tea set from England, cow bell from Switzerland, Mozart music from Salzburg, town clock from Ellicott City and maple leaf from Canada. There are still so many items left to find like: Bone art from Australia, Celtic Knott from Ireland, Nesting Dolls from Russia and chess set from Poland.

Anyway, as much as we love seeing other places, in the end the tug to have kids won over the tug to travel the world. It would be cheaper. LOL.

The thing that excited me most about the idea of having kids was the chance to see the world again through a child's eyes. I'd like to consider myself someone who appreciates the small things in life. I probably do notice them more than the average person, but not like a child. When I see something that I take notice of, I may appreciate it, but I"m not learning about it for the first time. Like so many adults, I just forgot what it was like for *EVERYTHING* to be new. Maybe that's what I like so much about traveling to other countries.

Anyway, I absolutely LOVE watching Ellie discover new things for the first time. I LOVE watching her perfect a technique that she has fun with. I LOVE watching her imitate us, trying to be so grown up. I LOVE seeing how much there is to learn, that I took for granted knowing (like sipping through a straw). EVERYTHING, every action, every reaction... is learned. Even being scared about something is learned. I never knew that. The first time Ellie experiences something scary, she's almost never afraid of it. She's quiet, and takes it in. The next time she sees it, though, she's scared. It's incredible how much a child learns.

So in a nutshell (a big nutshell), I knew I wanted to be a mother because I wanted to experience the world as the magical place I so easily forget that it is.