7 Reasons Your Son Is The Greatest Gift You'll Ever Give Yourself
I never knew I could love something this much.
Nathan Dumlao | Unsplash, pixelshot | Canva When I was pregnant with my first child, I didn't care if it was a boy or a girl. I was so excited to finally become a mother that I imagined showering this precious baby with the kind of soul-searing unconditional love I couldn't imagine giving anyone else. Before that, I'd only known boys as the mysterious other: brother, father, boyfriend, crush, boss, husband. I loved, hated, and feared, but didn't quite understand them.
And then this boy, my boy, came into the world. You don't realize that your son is the greatest gift you will ever receive until you have one. My first son was quiet after he was born, looking around the hospital room with wonder, taking it all in. He's still like that so many years later, except when he gets mad, frustrated, or fed up, the quiet shatters, and the thunder rolls. But when my son lets those emotions pour forth, so do the tears. His sensitive heart causes his eyes to well up from the intensity of it all, and I melt again and again at the sight of his precious face. And I realize he's the greatest gift of all.
Here are 7 reasons your son is the greatest gift you'll ever give yourself:
1. He restored my faith
When my son was born on a cold March day six months after terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, not only was I smitten — my faith in goodness and humanity was restored.
2. He taught me patience
The quiet shattered soon after he was born; he spent the first eight weeks of his life crying for two hours straight every night. I learned patience; I knew what unconditional love meant.
3. He taught me to be reassured by the presence of another person
I learned the power of holding this tiny creature close to my body in a sling, in a baby carrier, laying next to him on the bed or couch, and him lying on my chest in peaceful slumber. That closeness lulled him to sleep and reassured me, too. Even now, he'll climb into bed with me late at night and we'll discuss the latest episode of whatever we're watching. But that closeness? That's my son's greatest gift to me: the reassurance that all is right in the world.
4. He taught and continues to teach me so many life lessons
When I couldn't get him to sleep as a baby, and then as a toddler, I learned to let go of the need to schedule or control outcomes and cried along with him.
5. He brought me the realization that everything a person needs comes from within
He nursed until he was a year and a half old, taking equal comfort in being skin to skin as he did from plunging fist-first into the first birthday cake that I made him.
6. He taught me to listen and be content with what's right in front of me
My little boy opened my eyes to new things, listening better than I did to endless accounts of Curious George and Thomas the Tank Engine. He taught me to care about things like trains and Legos and to revel in sitting on the floor and creating something by stacking blocks one on top of another. When he jumped on the couch cushions or piled them up for a waterfall that slid him down to the carpet, he reminded me how important it is to play. And every sunset I pointed out that he oohed and ahhed to reminded me what a beautiful world we live in.
7. He challenged me to think about how I treat others and to put myself in their shoes
In my son, I see my impatience sometimes, my hidden anger, and all the things people once criticized me for. And because I love him so much, I stop and ponder how I would've liked to be approached rather than reprimanded and scolded. I try to get it right, to scar him as little as possible, and in the process, to heal myself. He's me as much as he's himself, and we make a perfect pair — understanding one another and not understanding at the same time, so familiar it's as if he's my reflection. Becoming this boy's mother made my life livable, valuable, and full of wonder. Because we're in this together, through argument and celebration. I held his hand before he knew how to look both ways before crossing a street, and when I'm old I know he'll be sitting at my bedside, holding my worn hand in his, loving me as much as I've always loved him.
Lynne Meredith Golodner is a writer, journalist, public relations pro, entrepreneur, and author of nine books. Her bylines have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including Better Homes and Gardens, the Chicago Tribune, Good Housekeeping, Midwest Living, and Parents Magazine, among others.