Serenity Now!

In my quest to be a "better parent" and to educate Kris and myself on the latest and greatest in the world of parenting advice, I currently have on my nightstand:

(I especially love that the mom's hair is all out of whack and her eyes look all frazzled and you know she's at her wit's end in the picture...I could really relate to this some days! Not to mention, my late Aunt Sharon recommended this line of books to me and said they were a God-send to her.)

As I've mentioned before, we knew it was going to be hard work (being a parent that is) and we knew our lives were going to be completely changed. What we didn't really think about was that our personalities as we knew them would be fundamentally changed upon becoming parents. Or at least, to be more effective we would need to make some changes (i.e. I would need to learn to be more patient, as would Kris as we have recently found out!). The books are great at giving information, and general guidelines, but they don't quite give set examples of what one should do in each and every scenario (I'm guessing that throwing pants across the house or saying "I'm over it" are not proper responses to situations...both long stories you'd have to hear in person to fully appreciate!). My hope is that by reading these books, we will be better prepared for the craziness this little guy can throw at us at times and that we will not feel like we are alone. Sometimes that's exactly how I feel. Like we're on this parenting island - like no one understands what we're going through, or can imagine what we're talking about because Nicky is so cute and can be so amazingly charming and loving...and he is, don't get me wrong! But man - when he flips out and we have to step up and (um, do "our job", what we're supposed to do, of course) be "the parent", it can be really (for lack of a better word) hard to keep our cool at times! So - what's my point here? Well, for all you Seinfeld fans out there... "Serenity Now!" That's what we're praying for! Serenity Now! Every time I feel my blood pressure is on the rise (i.e. at the dinner table when Nicky is "chewing" his milk and playing with his macaroni like it's a flute), Serenity Now! Say it with me folks, and pray that it brings some hope, help and resolve!