The Parenting Playlist 002: Keeping Calm and Carrying On
Not knowing is the worst. As someone who is brand new to this whole ‘creating life’ business, I have found that pregnancy is not all baby-showers and name books. Yes there was that initial burst of unbelievable excitement (“I did WHAT?”) but then, as the reality sets in, there is a lot of waiting. A lot.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. In our age of instantaneous gratification, there is something to be said for waiting for something, especially when that something is going to be the light of your life.
So we wait. Like many other parents-to-be we go through the ups and downs together. I’ve learned quickly that crackers and ginger ale are no longer just food items, but essential medicine to have on-hand at all times. I’ve learned that there are going to be nights where my wife will be awake from four to six, and other days where she will want to go to bed around 7pm. After having taken a nap.
With all of these changes unfolding as we wait, something unexpected has crept into our live. We are learning to worry. Anxiety, that essential ingredient in all parenting, has begun to seep slowly into our imaginations. As we starting this long journey into the unknown, we’re already facing the challenge of finding that fine balance between a healthy amount of worry and the absolute utter insanity of combining worry with the internet. Did you know that you can buy an ultrasound machine for use in your own home? Did you know there are whole message boards devoted to NTNP? Did you even know what NTNP meant before all of this? Neither did I.
The biggest challenge we have found in all of this worry, is simply not knowing. We both at times have found ourselves tossing and turning at night wishing there was some way we could check on what’s going on in there. That’s when you start looking at ultrasound prices online.
So I’m here today to give you a much more affordable option to calm your worries. A hand-picked playlist of songs that will set your mind at ease. So sit back, light a candle or two, grab a that book you’ve been meaning to read for the past few years, press play, and give your worrying a little break. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.
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Mark Kowgier is a novelist, poet, and teacher from the great white north. Follow his reading tweets (@upinmytree) or see funny pictures of him at markk.ca
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