Change

They say: A change is as good as a holiday. I do not know who the “they”are who came up with this saying and what type of a holiday they had in mind, but one thing I know for sure: motherhood has been the most live changing holiday /change I have ever been on.


If the author of this change meant that change, just like a holiday takes you on new journeys, new adventures, creating timeless memories then I fully agree, this change called motherhood has been exactly that. Just like most holidays, we planned this change, we looked forward to it, could not wait for the day of departure on our parental journey to arrive.


We also had to save for it, just like one would have to do for a holiday. We had to make a few bookings, but unlike for a holiday these bookings evolved around hospital beds and doctor’s visits.


We thought we had the route outlined, just like one should be doing when planning a holiday into the unknown. We read the books, listened to all the advice that came our way (note to self: some advice only has value on the level of amusement). Weeks before the expected date of departure we started to pack, after all one need to make sure you are never caught off guard on a journey into the unknown.


Yes, up to now parenthood surely does have many touch points with a holiday, but when the day of your departure onto this new journey arrives, you also realise that there are many differences.


Unlike a holiday, this journey will never end. You know where the starting point is, but from there on nothing will ever be the same.


You do not get any rest on this holiday. Very soon you realise that you are in for a lot of work and very little if any sleep.


This holiday comes with a sense of responsibility unknown to any holiday I have ever been on. You do not spend any money on yourself on this holiday, and most of the money you do spend is thrown into a diaper bin within the blink of an eye.


Despite all the differences and comparisons to the change a holiday brings there is one thing that motherhood has given me these past few months, that I will carry with me until the day I die: a love for another human being, so strong and pure and unpretentious, a love worth dying for. That is true change, life-altering change.