I love babies. I really do! I always have. At my father's house, you can find pictures of me leaning over babies to "take care of them" when I was a toddler. I used to tell my mother that I had 6 kids and they lived at McDonald's. Truth be told, I like kids of all ages, and I'm pretty ready to help out if you ask me. And if it happens, it happens, and we'll be thrilled.
However, this does not mean that I'm ready for my own. No, thank you! And I'll tell you why.
I just got married what seems like 5 minutes ago (truth be told, I'm just 14 days shy of my 1st anniversary). My husband and I are still adjusting to each other, learning what makes the other tick. For example, I had just rolled out of bed the other morning, and Mr. V asked me what I was planning on doing with something that was sitting on the table. I, not being a morning person, told him as lovingly as I could pre-sunrise that "this is NOT the time to ask me questions." It hadn't really come up yet, so there it was. Can you imagine me, not a morning person, dealing with a baby, a toddler, a teenager, a child of any age AND having to (I use this term loosely) "train" my husband on the 'do this but not that' of mornings? Can you spell catastrophe?
People will ask me all of the time when we're going to have children. "Not yet," I tell them. "We just got married. We're going to wait a while." And I get a little tired of it.
Now, I know a lot of people are thinking that they know or are someone who was pregnant within the first year of their marriage and that worked out just fine. I know those people, too, and I'm so, so, so happy for them. But I know me better and I know that I need a little more time.
See, what you may not know is that my mother passed away almost three years ago. I started teaching just a month after she passed away. And coaching. And I had an apartment fire. And that was just in the first year of her not being here to support me they way she had for 25 years before. Since then, I've been busy with the ups and downs that come with teaching and coaching and getting married and moving and everything else.
I need a year of normal. I need it. I'm looking forward to having my first year of teaching without coaching cheerleading. It's going to be great! I'm looking forward to my second year of marriage to a man I hopelessly love but am still getting to know. I'm looking forward to buying our first house, to my friends' weddings in far off places, to our month in Europe next summer, to laughing and getting back to truly loving life and living with a gusto. I miss the person I was 3 years ago. I need to find her again before I add another person to the mix.
I know it's fun to ask and people love babies. Trust me. I'll let you know when we're expecting. Just don't expect us to expect anybody new anytime soon.
Thank you, friends!
Mrs. V
PS - My sweet husband is also a big goof and every now and then, he'll contract foot-in-mouth disease. He'll say something akin to "It's okay, baby. We'll have one someday" while rubbing my back. This generally warrants the rolling of my eyes as someone in the group will invariably (and consolingly) say "you still have time" or "there's no rush." While well-meaning, it's not necessary. I even find it a bit patronizing and I don't need the sympathy, so it's out of place. I have taked to Mr. V about it and he is trying to stop, but if he slips up and happens to say something like that, please disregard. We're not actively trying to have a baby right now.
