A huge part of parenting is being excited about life’s possibilities

by ParentCo. June 21, 2015

women with child with brick background

We're sharing a post from Brigitta Burguess every day this week, as a series about her perspective as a younger, new new mom. Read them all here.


It's recently come to my attention that I entered into the parenting conversation without really explaining how I got here in the first place. Well, "how I got here" isn't exactly what I mean, since most of you know how one becomes a parent.

But I haven't really spoken of who I am, or my perspective on the new parenting experience. Perhaps readers of my "new parenting" columns are saying things like "Who is this chick? And why should I give anything flying or belonging to a rat what she thinks about parenting?"

Though I might not be able to answer the latter, I can at least shed some light on the former. Here goes:

I'm a 23-year-old teacher and writer from the great Mitten-shaped state where it can be both snowing and sunny simultaneously. I've written for years, and am a blogger, poet, and music journalist. My writing is therefore inspired by music, books, Nature, and – oh yeah – this new thing I’m doing all the time called being a mom.

I spent my college years claiming I wouldn't be a teacher because I really didn't like kids. But then when I graduated with a dual degree in English and Math (both of which are somewhat useless unless you are going to be a teacher) and somehow ended up getting a job offer to teach music a few days later, I gave in to my destiny. And since then, every time I tried to leave and do something different, I've just ended up right back with kids, adding reading and math to my teaching repertoire. I still think tons of them are brats, but God keeps leading me to spend time with them, so here I am.

Anyway, then my awesome Renaissance man husband and I decided to have one of our own, and he came out perfect in every way so I had to admit that kids were pretty great after all (or maybe just mine is, which is fine by me). He has only been around for a few months now, but he has already made a greater impression on my life than any college professor ever has. Beyond encouraging strength and patience in my everyday life, my son has taught me what I consider to be the greatest lesson I have ever learned: to cry when I am sad and smile when I am happy.

I love teaching, don’t get me wrong, but I’m the kind of person who has a billion interests and could pretty much do anything as a job. I definitely don’t think of teaching as my career, and I don’t really believe myself to be career-driven in most senses of the word. Furthermore, I don't believe being career-driven is necessary to being a good parent. Stability is a key aspect of parenting, yes, but I think a huge part of the job is being excited about life’s possibilities. The moral of my story is that I am not settled or settling because I feel you can be just as good of a parent even if you haven't quite figured life out yet for yourself.

For me, that looks like constantly sharing my interests with my son and encouraging him to experience the joys of the world as he too encourages for me. I have learned that my job will change, and my passions will change, but my career will always be mothering.




ParentCo.

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