The White Family

Funnily, I am writing this entry in under different circumstances to which I thought I would be… When I brought this blog up, it was under a scheduled reminder from a certain someone, that they wanted a blog or website they could write on… So actually I expected to revisit here with several blog posts already in place, and I’d actually just be supplementing with the occasional post when I got time…

But alas, here I am writing the Maiden “full” blog post, with a dilemma to what I should write to make it entertaining enough to make it worth reading… So in an unoriginal fashion, as per many parents with an online presence, my first topic will be a familiar one… What we all get told as we find that special someone, and as the likely becomes inevitable, when you become a parent… life changes.

I think you can never really understand that statement until it really happens, no matter how negative or positive the statement is presented to you, the reality is the actual result is very much a “custom made” experience for the lifestyles and personalities shared between the parents, but also an undeniable formulation of a fresh unbreakable bond between the two.

I only need to reference my own dad, who repeatedly reminds me, with a bit of tongue in cheek, that “If I didn’t have you lot, I’d be a lot better off (financially), but even so I wouldn’t trade you for anything”. You see, I think that is oddly quite apt, as a parent you make sacrifices but what you get in return can’t really be assimilated with a price tag or a worth, you just know that it’s worth so much more…

Obviously, I write this in early stages of parenthood, after all, I have not yet had to deal with a “first day of school”, “the first heartbreak”, “teenage angst”, just to name a few, and I know we have one hell of a ride coming, with our first, and our second on the way… But already, as parents, we have sacrificed some of the things we use to do a lot together, marathons at the cinema (unlimited cinema cards), evenings out, days spent at football (soccer, for those of you across the pond) grounds, spontaneous trips, serving our (perhaps more mine…) gadget propensity & other similar outings or costs which logistically cannot really happen any more or as often.

So even in these early stages, life has changed and obviously priorities have shifted, and we are under no disillusion that there is still a lot more to come with more sacrifices to make…

But the fact is, every day our little one surprises us, his personality is shining through as he grows (too quickly it seems), and learns, so does his ability to catch us off guard with a brand new way to make us smile… And honestly, you cannot put a price tag on that, how children seem to have the apt ability to make you smile even when you’ve had a hard day, or even when they may be being difficult, you know you they’ll find a way to pry a smile from you…

I know that as he gets older and develops more, we are looking forward to, and going to love sharing more with him & the incoming arrival as they grow. Taking them to their first football match (playing / watching), sitting down and taking them on in a gaming session (and let’s face it, they’ll probably end up beating us, so will have to savour the victories whilst we can), taking them to see their favourite characters at Disney land / world & just helping them develop into the people they will grow to be…

It’s a responsibility and a commitment, that does come with sacrifice both financially and socially, but what you gain in return no money can buy or no words can explain, you will develop & learn from them, in a similar way to which they learn from you.

But one thing I can say for sure, life does change, but it’s a change every parent should embrace, cherish, hold on, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.