Sweet Thoughts

When you think about becoming a parent, if it's something that you want in your life, no doubt you think about the first look into a newborn's face, the smiles as they play, and teaching them as they grow. You think about baseball games and Christmas mornings, birthday parties and school plays.

Perhaps you also think about sleepless nights, because everyone warns you about those. And maybe you think about colds and the illnesses that you'll have to nurse them through.

But rarely, actually, I hope never, do you think about the stranger realities of parenthood. Like holding your infant and rubbing his back or circling his legs as he pushes out a particularly difficult poop. And you know, these are problems that you really can't do anything about (besides moving their legs in a bicycle motion as they lay on their backs), but they will turn to you and expect you to understand and somehow fix it.

But they have to poop alone when it comes down to it.