To tell you all that little ones haven’t been on our brains would be a complete lie. Maybe they are on mine more than Mike’s but they are usually a topic of discussion a few or so times a week. I seriously am frightened by the idea, but also overly excited and emotional about the thought of having a kid. There are reoccurring dreams I have about our life as 3 and with all my friends having babies this Summer these thoughts are becoming increasingly more frequent.
So when I came across this project through Brooke Schwab called You are my Wild, my heart leaped. It is a weekly project of a group of photographers who share how they see their children and I find it captivating, cute, funny, and absolutely beautiful. See the full list of participants here.
I think my biggest hesitance with children is the little bit of time I can currently give of myself. So many people say that when a kid comes around they take all your time and energy…oh god that is frightening to me. My life is so wrapped around working, building a business, making money to reach financial goals (aka buy a house), and finding the time just to feed the dogs, keep the house clean, and oh yeah get dressed and put makeup on like a real person. By no means do I believe this is a healthy way of living and I am hoping we will reach the end of this craziness by Summer, but I wonder how does it all fall together? How do you figure out to balance it all? Worst of all how do you know you are giving enough to that little soul?
Part of me sees a child as an opportunity to learn to enjoy life in a whole new way and through their eyes, but there is also a part of me that fears not having the time to slow down enough to know what I am experiencing and to really enjoy it. The reason this project is amazing to me is seeing how these business owning families are living, adventuring, creating, loving, and viewing the world. I sometimes need a reality check to know that it all works and somehow it will all balance out when the time is right for us. Things are not perfect but the most beautiful things never really are.
Most of the time when I think of having a little one I think back to my memories of being little. I lived for made up adventures. I collected reptiles and other creatures. I thought the creek behind our house when we lived in Kentucky was the most amazing thing ever to come in to my life. I spent hours there. I found nature extremely interesting and I lived for the creative parts of life. When I think of that I think of how amazing having children could be. These little people learning, discovering, and reminding us that life is pure and simple in ways we have lost sight of as 20 something adults.
Knowing that makes the idea of little ones in our life much less frightening and much more exciting. I finally have begun to understand my parents that much better just thinking of this potential of change in our lives one day.
The funniest thing is how these feelings of wanting to begin a family happen and how your body has you craving certain experiences, such as having children. WTF body? I was always SO frightened of it, but more and more it sounds exhilarating, fun, and amazing. Has this happened to any of you? Those that do have little ones and own a business…I want to hear your thoughts! Tell me!
