Totally guilt-free - by Jaena
I was over 30 when we discovered we were expecting our first child. With eight years as children’s pastor, countless hours of babysitting, and an elementary education degree under my belt, I was convinced that I knew what to expect when it came to having kids. Sleepless nights? Check. More cluttered house? Check. Tighter budget? Check.
I discovered early on that all my experiences had not prepared me for at least one mainstay of motherhood: guilt. It set in almost immediately: Did I have enough folic acid in the early weeks, before conception? And continued each week: Too much sugar. Not enough vegetables? Month after month: Too much weight gain? Not enough? Then in the third trimester, I had high blood pressure, followed by preeclampsia and induction. The questions gnawed at my mind: What could I have done differently? Was it my fault? Results from the newborn screen revealed a rare metabolic disorder that required us to feed our son soy formula, so I was thrust into the emotional debate of bottle feeding versus nursing but with no choice in the matter…just more guilt.
I struggled over so many decisions as a new mother. So imagine my relief in finding an area of mothering that was completely guilt-free: Praise Baby. What a blessing! A friend loaned us our first Praise Baby DVD, and I was in awe: beautiful worship music with pictures of God’s creation. There was nothing to feel guilty about!
We have played Praise Baby music and videos now for all three of our children: through sleepless nights, in the van, throughout the day. I listen as the older two (and sometimes even my husband) sing the songs and our baby calms and goes to sleep. I know I am reinforcing godly principles and instilling a musical and theological heritage. And I have never felt guilty about it — not once.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Care, Growth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
