Welcoming Priscilla into our world turns out to be more exciting than I first perceived it to be! Afterall, I have had two previous experiences and babies are babies, they feed, sleep, poop and cry. The latter is a bit harder to adapt since I have had almost 6 years of peace!
To begin with, everyday is a day of struggle. For example, I dread to spend hours feeding Priscilla, that could sometimes take up to 6 hours at one go! Therefore, when she was able to feed with a gap of 2 hours, I was jumping with joy and my mind began to fill with all kinds of stuff that I could do during the short duration! But alas, I realised that when she wasn’t sucking, she was crying and begging to go to sleep but couldn’t! So, instead of happily replying emails or catching a nap or even taking a shower, I was busy trying different means to put her to bed.
By the time that Priscilla had finally dozed off to sleep, I discovered much to my dismay that I only had half an hour before her next feeding! Sometimes this precious half hour was shortened when Joe stepped into my bedroom, proclaiming his return from school, which subsequently jolted Priscilla out of her nap - the cycle repeated itself again.
It would be easy for me to vent my frustration on Priscilla, but miraculously, I didn’t! “Why are you so patient with Priscilla? You weren’t so with Clarissa and Joseph!” observed Ray one day. “Well, I am just happy that Priscilla is healthy and normal! Plus, she will be my last baby and therefore, I cherish her even more!” I replied with a smile on my face.
At that moment, something clicked at the back of my mind. As I was struggling with Clarissa and Joseph’s school exams revisions, I had secretly wished that they could be smarter, more teachable, more disciplined, more obedient, and etc. However, I forgot that when they were babies, I was ecstatic over their daily little small achievements such as being healthy, pooping, feeding and growing well! I could almost hear God telling me “Fee, whatever happened to being thankful for having healthy and happy children?” Indeed, as time progresses, I as a mother has started to compile a list of expectations from my children, that has blinded me from seeing God’s greatest blessings on them!
Thank you Heavenly Father for using Priscilla to remind me to be grateful for seemingly small but clearly enormous blessings!
Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father.
(James 1: 17)
