When I was younger, say mid teens through early 20s, I had all these opinions. And they were strong opinions. Because of course with all that life experience from which I could draw, I sure knew what I was talking about.
I had political opinions. I had opinions about kids, abortion, sex, relationships, etc. Since then, I've aged.
Matured, even.
A little bit.
Kinda.
Through my experience, I've learned that a.) things are usually not that black & white and b.) I don't know shit.
I try to keep this in mind when dealing with others. I try not to be too judgy of people who do not have the benefit of my experience. Or any experience really.
And while I try to keep this in mind, it doesn't stop me from rolling my eyes & thinking some judgy stuff when I'm presented with certain situations.
My stepbrother & his wife are a good example. They are 21 & are going to have a baby in a couple of months.
Now, at 32 I know what I think of 21-year-olds. Insert eye roll here. I can only imagine how those of you with a decade on me feel about me. A 51-year-old woman called me a fetus last week, so that gives me an idea.
I like my stepbrother. He's cool. A little short-sighted & thus a little lacking in the responsibility department, but he has a good heart. His wife? Not so much. Her gravitational pull is a little more than I can tolerate.
I like to imagine peas underneath her mattress whenever I find her a little too ridiculous. She doesn't work because she just doesn't want to (even before she was pregnant) and she constantly complains about not having any money. Whenever they do get money? They show up with new $400 cell phones, new jewelry, or some other unnecessary extravagance. Then she begs money off of other people to buy plane tickets to go home to visit for the holidays because they just can't get the money together on their own...
Does anyone else find it hard to restrain the "oh puh-lease...."?
But...I know what's coming.
A baby is coming. And they have no clue what that means. No clue at all.
Because no one does. That's part of the joy of becoming a parent for the first time. That "Ohhhh shit...." realization.
When you realize that you don't know what the hell you're doing, but a life depends on you doing it right. A life to which you're probably pretty attached.
I chuckle when she complains about having to get out of bed at noon. Or when she will post about how she's loafing around on the couch all day.
Someone's in for a rude awakening.
I hope that this child will give them the grow up kick in the ass I believe they need. To start thinking beyond what they want for themselves at this very moment. To realize that sometimes someone else's needs come before your own.
I know it's not my kid, it's not my relationship, & therefore, it's not my business. I disagree with many of their attitudes and choices, but I don't share my opinion with anyone because this is their journey to figure out. I just have a pretty educated guess about what's coming (based on my experience with the amazingly easy Boo) and I worry. I know what kids can do to relationships. And I know what ridiculously selfish parents can do to kids. And I worry.
Because that's what I do. And for his sake, (as well as my stepmother's, who I love dearly), I don't want to see my stepbrother fail at something as serious as marriage and parenthood. Sometimes it's really hard to stand by and watch something you're pretty sure is going to be a fiery train wreck and do nothing but pray you're wrong.
