A few years ago I remember feeling a bit lonely because I was the only one in my group of friends who was pregnant, and then who had a baby. I remember wanting to talk about it often but at the same time feeling guilty about talking about such a boring topic for most people. Specially since most of my friends were in their 20’s, happy and enjoying their freedom to travel, to party, to be. Meanwhile, my husband and I were scared and unsure. We knew we wanted to be good parents but we were not sure what “good” meant in terms of being a dad or a mom. It seemed like the definition of this varied person to person. Everyone had their own view on the topic.

But our friends are some of the best people alive. Honestly, I know I may be a bit bias here, hehe, but they are indeed great people. So, this process was a smooth one. And, as the months of my pregnancy came to pass, we were all talking more and more about baby, and what would baby be like, what baby would like, or dislike, even who would baby look like. And little by little us became baby’s parents, and parenting became a main topic. Then after a little while parenting became the limiting factor, as we had to learn to take turns to go out with friends, turns to eat, even turns to take a relaxing shower, or just a shower. One without a 3 minutes limit. And the joys of watching your beautiful baby sleep or eat or smile were also joined by the sleep deprivation, the loneliness and the stress of being a parent.

Fast-forward to a few years later and now everyone is having babies, and getting pregnant. Is like the term baby fever has a literal form in the world these days. More and more little creatures have come to join our group. Cute little people with beautiful smiley faces, tiny fingers and very busy schedules of sleep, eat, poop, and repeat. Each one with their own personality and quirks. Each one with a piece of their parents in them.

I used to think getting pregnant again would be too dangerous. After all, getting sick once was bad enough for me not to forget for a while. Now, I can barely remember that feeling. And although there are no babies in my near future, I can appreciate in a whole new way the amazing gift that is parenthood. Not only I get to live it myself with my beautiful son, but I get to enjoy watching my friends go through it,  and share about the experiences of this wonderful phase in life with them. Makes me realize the phrase “takes a village to raise a child” is not only an African proverb but a reality. As much as I’d like to fancy myself super woman, if there is something I’ve learned these past 4 years, is that raising a kid is definitely a complex thing and is better done in numbers. Friends, teachers, babysitters, family members, they all have an impact in my son’s life. And as a mom I try to make sure to surround him with good, smart and caring people. People he can count on, learn from, play with. Oh, yeah, play dates are important. Specially since he is an only child.

So, as a geek and a parent, I can say that my appreciation for this amazing gift has grown stronger and stronger with each passing day.  Since most of us analyze every new skill, every new smile (or smirk, hehe)  and every new obsession our kids have, it is a time consuming process. Having the support of friends have been a key aspect of me being able to provide a life full of great experiences for my son. A life surrounded by people from different backgrounds, different points of views, different skills and hobbies. I guess that is one advantage of what I would call “family of friends”. The ones we create as adults and not necessarily the ones we grew up with.  Which most of us are cornered into since we move away from our families for jobs and opportunities. But this also gives us the chance to provide a more well rounded education  for our kids. They get to see the world without the blinders put by culture and tradition. Or at least less of them. And so I’m very glad to have all these new little smiley faces in the world join the group. Looking forward to meet them all, watch them grow and watch my friends experience the different phases. Just saying, from the perspective of “the one with the oldest kid”, this will be fun. 🙂