There are moments when I have felt enveloped in fear. Fear of the future. Fear of those just-you-waits. We’ve all heard these threats from close relatives, parent peers, and absolute strangers.

“Just you wait till your third trimester!”

“Just you wait till you’re in labor!”

“Just you wait till they’re on solids!”

“Just you wait till they start crawling!”

“… walking!”

“… talking!”

“… you have 3 of them!”

On and on they go, warning you of the next steps in your parenthood in how awful they will be. Unfortunately, these ill-wished comments are so commonplace in our society. And for a young mother such as myself, they wear me down.

Am I really at the peak of parenthood bliss with these darlings? Are the next steps going to bring an array of hardships and chaos? I start preparing for the possibility that the other shoe will drop to the floor. I get anxious. I worry. Then, I push out my fears and keep strolling through Costco… that is until the next just-you-wait encounter. Recently though I’ve found a much-needed epiphany in regards my fearful case of the just-you-waits.

I am the exception.

That statement isn’t meant to be boastful, nor is meant to offend. It simply means that I am in charge of my own perceptions of my parenthood path. It means that my past attitudes will indicate what my future attitude will hold. It means that I haven’t fallen into the just-you-waits yet. And if I continue how I am, I probably never will.

Throwing up constantly bent over a toilet with my first-born, I was delighted. This pregnancy was strong, and I basked in that knowledge. As my second emerged with difficulty, my love for them started to break the trauma I experienced. I love seeing those first wobbly walks, and how giggly they get as they start to run. Bad days are rare for me, there’s may be a bad 5 minutes. An hour. The vast majority is amazing, fun, heart-bursting, and just plain happy. I find gratitude for the blessing it is not only to bare, but to raise these babies. And it is through that thanksgiving that the burdens I bare are lessened. Every step. Every stage. To me, is wonderful.

So in due respect, I think that those just-you-waits can stay with the tongues who speak it.

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