Brother and sister are respectively 2 years & 5 months, and 2 months today.
Parenting is the hardest job I’ve ever held so far. There is:
- No training - with the exception of the odd Plunket course and the TV ad reminder not to shake babies.
- A lot of research on various aspects - development, feeding, sleeping, behaviour, daycare/kindy/school, medical conditions, entertainment, gear, etc
- Overtime work - forget the French 35-hour week, this job is round the clock!
- Lack of direction from management - Eloise’s grizzling is undecipherable, while Nico’s ‘More? Please? OK!’ can at least be sometimes translated as ‘Would you please pass me object xxx’
- Little to no financial reward - the government’s pitiful $429.74 per week before tax for 3 months is an insult.
- An unsafe work environment - stepping on marbles and toy cars, bending down to pick up a baby, carrying heavy wriggling loads, dealing with hazardous bio substances, not wearing any ear protection when a tantrum comes up, having my hair used as a climbing support
- Skills and virtues learnt in a do-or-die fashion - multi-tasking, patience, reverse psychology and the newly-acquired skill of not swearing when a toddler drops a heavy book on your toes.
- Absent work colleague - forget about getting help breastfeeding at night time, Daddy doesn’t even stop snoring when Eloise’s cries reach maximum capacity.
- No way out - my contract expires in 17 years and 10 months.
On the other hand, there are other rewards - they’re not financial but intangible, and (in retrospective) worth every bit of hardship we’ve been through (so far).
When I tucked Nico to bed and kissed him goodnight, I whispered to him ‘Je t’aime’. It was midnight and he looked fast asleep so I wasn’t expecting any response. Then a little sleepy voice made itself heard, making an effort to mumble back ‘Ik hou van jou’. Awwww…
And Eloise has started cooing back when she’s being talked to, and readily smiles back. Being a girl, I definitely expect her to be more advanced than Nico on the communication and charm-using skills. I had forgotten how cute these gummy smiles get. I sure hope my smiles are that cute when I’m old and wrinkly and have lost all my teeth.
