Parenthood

I’ve often heard the question asked; why isn’t there an instruction manual when you take on the job of parent? After spending my Sunday afternoon in the emergency department of the local hospital, due to a football injury, waiting to see the triage nurse, waiting to see the admin officer, waiting to see the doctor, waiting to go to x-ray, waiting to come back from x-ray, and then waiting to be discharged, I have to wonder if it is in part due to the fact that no one would ever do it if they knew what they were in for.

As a parent you seem to spend your life bouncing from one problem to another, putting out one fire, only to see another one start up somewhere else and that’s when things are good. More often, you have to fight two or three simultaneously, not an easy feat when you only have one pair of hands. Not to mention you are flying blind into the bargain. You never know whether the decisions you make are the right ones, until it is too late to undo them and by then other decisions that wouldn’t wait, have further complicated matters. I ask you, who in their right mind would agree to that, if they knew about it ahead of time? 

But like anything there is a flip side to this position, another way to look at it. Maybe there is no instruction manual because it would diminish the joy by revealing the adventure. Who needs extreme sports to provide, danger and excitement when you have kids?  Parenthood is there greatest thrill ride there is, with more ups and downs than a rollercoaster and a surprise around every corner.

 So maybe, after all we are better off without guidance, not only because for some it would stop the journey before it started, but also because it may reduce the exhilaration and diminish the experience leading to the worst of all possible situations, boredom.