Convenient Parenting

As always, I will first update with facts about Mr. Chasten and then follow up with what I've learned recently in my parenthood.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time passes now that I am a parent. It seems just when you want to freeze time (or at least have it go slowly) it inevitably will go quicker than you can keep up with. It seems like only yesterday that I gave birth to my beautiful 8 lb 11 oz little one...and now he's up to 19 lbs and 6 oz and over two feet long! He's learning to do so many things and is the happiest baby I've ever met. I love that he mimics our facial expressions and sounds that we make. He hasn't started crawling yet, but he is beginning to get frustrated when he can't reach things and will "throw" himself towards it.

The most recent thing I have had laying on my heart is "convenient parenting." I have often witnessed that people do what's most convenient for them rather than placing their children's needs ahead of their own. I have never understood parents who are too selfish to give up the #1 spot. Now I don't mean that becoming a parent means you instantly have no fun anymore ever, but I do feel like that when you become a parent it warrants taking a back burner. Part of this could be that there are so many people now becoming parents at young ages unexpectantly that lack the maturity to be able to do put themselves last. What these individuals don't realize is that not only are they cheating their child, but they're cheating themselves. When you're a parent that still keeps up the social life of a college student, you're missing out on time you could be spending with your little one...precious moment's that you can never get back. This bothers me and when I see it, I'm often frazzled. I began thinking about it though and contemplated how I would feel if God took this same approach. If He left frequently to "hang out with His friends" and left me without Him, how would I feel? I would feel abandoned and unimportant. This is not something I would ever want Chasten to feel. I'm so thankful that God has instilled in me the desire to be a parent, full time and the wisdom to continue making good decisions for my family.