A Special Grace

I believe that God bestows a special grace on new parents.  Especially new parents who are absolutely clueless about babies and how to raise them.

This is the state I was in when Ben was born.

I was the youngest in my family, so there were no siblings to practice on.  And I never babysat while growing up.  So when Ben arrived, 32 years ago, this September 16th, God made him especially tough.

There's a picture of him taken at a week old, with an expression that said, "please figure this out soon."

I was determined to breast feed him, and boy, was that colorful!  My breasts were huge, but there was only a trickle of milk coming out of them.  Ben would nurse for a few minutes and then scream for me to just give him a bottle already, which of course, I did.

Neither of my guys were big milk drinkers, but Ben loved juice.  He went to bed with juice and woke up with juice.  It is absolutely miraculous that his teeth didn't rot.

In spite of my ineptitude, Ben was a happy baby.  He always woke up with a smile. It was like he was rewarding me for effort, when we both knew I had no idea what I was doing.

For instance, it didn't occur to me when he started to roll around, that he could fall off the bed.  The first time it happened, (yes, it happened more than once), I said a special prayer, thanking God for making him tough.

When Ben started to talk, one of the first things he said was, "I'm always on duty," from the cartoon, Inspector Gadget, which I finally figured out when I was watching it with him one day.  Was the TV babysitting him?  I'd like to say no, but his first words prove otherwise.

So this was the start of Ben's growing adventure.

I believe most first born kids are like science projects that we hope will turn out OK.  And so it was with Ben.

But, in spite of it all . . .

He made it.

And not only did he survive, he thrived.

I am so proud of the man he has become, knowing that he made it in spite of my ignorance.

Happy birthday Ben.

Love, Mom