Are we ever really prepared?

Published on: October 27, 2017

By: Chélene Salzwedel

We had the enormous privilege of having a home birth with our second child – the most exhilarating, fully-engaged connectedness our family has experienced together.
When Jaimy emerged, she was the most serene little human I’ve ever had the pleasure of locking eyes with. She knew she was home, it was in her gaze… she held mine for the longest time, without whimpering or resisting. I was enraptured by her beauty as she lay on my chest, an indescribably perfect moment!

Fast forward a few years to her 3rd birthday, and our quiet little princess has become a feisty, loud hailer of a pre-schooler, with her own ideas about everything! From wanting to wear only jeans and costumes, to not wanting to greet any humans at all to only wanting to eat from the pink bowl!

We could never have anticipated the intensity of her personality when first looking into her eyes at 02:10 on that life-changing morning… but whether she is just plain stubborn or if her specificity is on some sort of spectrum, what changes everything for her is that she is our daughter, and she is loved and embraced just the way she is! We wouldn’t change a thing, however idiosyncratic!

So, can any parent really prepare for the complexities of their kids or the uniqueness of their individual needs? I don’t think anything prepares you for this! The only journey we are on with our girls is one that we really hope allows them to completely embrace who God designed them to be! Not a copy of the other girls around them or any brand other than the original that they each are.

It seems like the toughest realisation, but yet one of the most core beliefs we can hold as parents: They are enough. Who they are is enough. We are the right parents for them and they are the right children for us.