Parenthood Pains | Teen Ink

Parenthood Pains

March 19, 2012
By MollySue1 BRONZE, Saugerties, New York
MollySue1 BRONZE, Saugerties, New York
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Otto, your average little munchkin, giving his first time parents a taste of the “terrible twos”. His parents, they go by Lea and Andy, sitting upon the glossed sea colored park bench as they watch their baby at work. Making his way from one object to another on the play ground, running, screaming, crying, murmuring baby gibberish and getting new bumps and bruises to show off to the world, but that is just an average day. They watch him as be creates his own obstacles like trying to climb up slides, sides of the wondrous pirate ship, and up on to swings. They wish to stop him, but they don’t want to ruin his sense of adventure, plus he will learn, well eventually.

He sprinted to the sand box, it seemed to lay perfectly next to the pirate ship, like a beach. The benches then seemed to pop out like waves, ahead of the ship. As he reached the sand box, his foot met the wooden barriers and he took a little tumble. Their little baby quickly sat up and looked at his parents for a reaction, uncertain of how to react himself, they looked at each other and then back at him, with a smile. Yes it scared them, but he couldn’t see that, they wanted him to be brave and strong, just like Andy. He returned to playing and murmuring his baby gibberish like nothing had happened. While throwing the sand in the air and rolling around something caught his eye, he slanted his head in confusion, trying to collect the object. As with very baby, he decided tasting it might help. Lea caught him just in time.
“Otto, No baby!” she shrieked in fear
Otto began to cry, scared by her scream and confused on why momma was mad. She quickly sprinted over, he then ran to her too. The met and he threw his hands up, picking him up she noticed all of the juices falling from his face, but she didn’t care and wiped it with her sleeve. Usually Lea is a germ freak, but when it comes to her baby she couldn’t care less, she was still a little freaked out by the things Andy did a times. Otto wrapped his little baby arms around her, his hug just barely reaching to the back of her arms, was so light and gentle. She gently hugged back.
“Shhh it is okayy baby, that’s just a no-no. Momma and Daddy don’t want you to get sick or get an ouchie.” She uttered softly.
Just like that he bounced back to normal.
“Okayy Momma.” He said. “Where my juice is?” In his baby gibberish.
“Over by daddy, we can go get it.”
They made their way over to Andy, where he sat with the diaper bag. Otto was in a hurry to get his juice, so he ran. Every time he ran he put his arms out behind him, like he was trying to get better aerodynamics.
“Daddy where my juice is” Otto asked.
“Now what do you say first?” his father returned
“Peaseeee”
“Okay, good job.”
“Tank you, wove you.” He hollered as he took off with the juice back to the sand box.
Lea sat next to her husband and took a deep breathe.
“What’s wrong babe?” he asked as he pulled her close and gave her a hug.
“Nothing, that boy will just be the death of me some day, the little one gives me a heart attack ya know?” She laughed.
“You’re a good mom and I must say I’m a pretty good dad. We will all be fine, especially him.”
“I just wish time didn’t have to go by so fast. At moments it flies by and others it seems to stand still. Soon our baby will be just like you.”
“Well good, I’m a very good role model, if I do say so myself.”
“Always have to be funny, don’t you.”
“Yes you should know this by now.” They both laughed and gave each other a kiss.
It’s funny, how close two people can become after being with one another for so long. Immediately after that conversation they both began to think, generally of the same thing, of how he will never understand. He will never understand how much he means to them and how he is their world. Two years before they were married Lea was told that her chances of having children were slim and there were procedures that could be done, but she didn’t have the money. Andy promised to be her support because he knew how much being a mother some day had meant to her, he also offered to pay for the procedures if she wanted them. She refused the help, because she was always a little stubborn.
After a year of being married they began to look into adoption and surrogates mother options. 2 months into looking Lea began to have bad stomach pains and was getting sick very often. They went to the doctors, they said even though her chances were slim they wanted to double check. One week later they received a call from the doctor, they were asked to come in. When they went to the doctor’s office they received the news, Lea was 3 months pregnant and there seemed to be no complications in sight, but they wanted to keep a close eye.
Months flew by, making the nursery, throwing a baby shower, and getting everything ready. She was only in her 7th month when she went into labor. They rushed her to the hospital where they told her it was time. They got her all ready, 32 hours went by and finally he decided it was time to meet the world. He was a 2 month pre-mature baby and was in and out of hospitals for the first 6 months of his life. But this child was a gift from god, a blessing delivered by angels.
Andy being there through all of it was always more scared than he let show. Scared that she would lose the baby, just as her mother lost Lea’s older sister, he knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Still every day he kept a smile on his face and prayed for the health of them both. Envisioning the future days in the yard playing football, fixing cars, fixing the house, and teaching him like his own little pupil. He didn’t want Otto to be a “mini-me”, he wanted him to be skilled and try everything. Andy would bring home new songs for the baby to listen to everyday on his phone, he bought a special pair of head phones to put on Lea’s stomach for Otto. He would also bring home new recipes that he found online that were healthy for pregnant women. Lea loved to watch all of this, Andy was a caring and loving guy all the time, but this was even better.
Now they sit here, on the glossy sea colored bench, riding the waves of parenthood. Scared of the choices he would make and the reactions they would have. Scared he would rebel. Scared that someday he might claim he hates them, because he doesn’t understand that what they do and say, is out of love. Scared of where to set the boundaries and when to let them go. Most of all though, scared to let him go.
Their little creation with blonde hair, hazel eyes, sun-kissed skin, a striped T-Shirt, black sneakers and denim over-alls. As cute as could be, absorbing everything he is exposed to like that of a sponge. He ran again to try and climb the slide, which to him looked like a shinny flat sided mountain. As he bent over to grab on and start the climb, his buttons on his overalls reflected a bright light off the slide. He looked down into the mirror like surface and noticed his buttons. His new amusement quickly turned into operating these weird things.
“Ahhh, well one day we will wish it was still this easy to amuse him.” Andy said
“Yeh, I know.” Lea replied “That same day though, we will be wishing he stilled needed us like he does now, and how much we have always needed


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