The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Trying to impart the frustrations implicit in waiting for the Hedgehog to arrive have been challenging to say the least. 

People often seem to think the frustrations are in filling up the time.  Either how am I going to get it all the necessary stuff done before the child gets here, or what am I going to do with my time once I'm done with all the necessary stuff before the child gets here.

The time isn't the problem, it's the fact that both of those are valid questions.  I finally stumbled upon an analogy I can share with people who have been through a wedding - or similarly big event - to help them understand the issues.  (I love me a good analogy.  Almost as much as I love a good spreadsheet.  A spreadsheet of analogies - that might be one of the best things ever!)

Anyhow, here's how this whole waiting game works:

What if when you were planning your wedding you knew you were getting married sometime during the month of February (non-leap-year, it's a 4 week window of opportunity), but you would not know the actual date of the wedding until you woke up that morning.  Odds are the wedding will take place on or after February 15, but you don't even know what those odds are.  How do you plan for such a thing?

I shared this analogy with a friend this evening, and by the look on her face I think she was really glad that her wedding was behind her, so that she didn't have to contemplate a world in which that might actually happen.  While also realizing she hopes to have kids someday, so she'll be in for this waiting game herself someday.

So now we just wait.  And wait.  And wait a little more.

Comments

[Alison]

The quick answer of course is you don't. Deciding on their own, without consulting you, is pretty much only the beginning of a child introducing epic levels of chaos into your life. Doesn't change the awesome-ness, though.