Astounding Article

I was recently reading an article in a magazine that has left me with many emotions and I wanted to share it. The June 2011 issue of Redbook published the article titled, "Why don't I like my own child?" Click on the article and read what this mother has to say about her struggles with her firstborn daughter...(make sure you hit the next button and read all the way to the end)

I was appalled when I first started reading it. Those of us who are parents know that there are moments in every mother's life where we could use a break away from the kids, but if you are anything like me, the break doesn't last long before Im ready to squeeze my little angel again and hear her say, "I love you Mommy!" So if my child didn't ever hug me or really respond to affection it might be tough. And if she didn't seem to develop age appropriately that would also be a hard thing to cope with. But I cannot ever imagine, no matter the circumstances, saying that I didn't like my own child. When you go for your first prenatal visits, the doctors explain to you all sorts of testing that can be done to determine if you unborn child will be born with developmental and/or physical problems. I'm sure everyone has different opinions on this matter, but I personally do not understand the purpose of the tests because if they ever came back and showed that there was a problem with my baby, nothing would change about how I felt about the child growing inside of me, and I would definitely not even for one millisecond consider aborting that baby simply because raising them would be a bit tougher.

So I keep reading the article and I begin to get even more frustrated as the mother talks of how her second daughter was born and she was just wonderful and there was this instant bond between them all because she was an easy baby compared to her first daughter who rarely cried and then grew to be such a happy, friendly child. It literally made me sick to think that a mother could feel this way and I cannot comprehend it. The mother's friend finally gave her a wake call, and I love this, she said, "You are Sophie's mother. You're suppose to be her rock - the person she can count on most in the world for unconditional love and support. It doesn't matter if you like her of not: you still have to support her." 


Sadly, it wasn't until the little girl was 7 years old that the doctors told her parents that she had a decrease in her growth hormones since birth making her about 3 years behind her age. The mother only then started to feel a huge guilt for the years she had tried to push her daughter to be more and wished she had been more when all the while, the little girl had no control over it and was being the only person she was capable of being. Sophie, now 9 years old, is receiving hormone injections and is blossoming extremely well. Towards the end of the article, it seems as if the mother was going down the right path on forming a healthy relationship with her daughter.

Will and I were blessed with an incredibly smart and healthy little girl and I pray daily that this baby growing inside of me will be a healthy happy baby as well, but if that is not God's plan, and we face the difficult task of raising a developmentally slow child I pray that I will love and embrace that child just as much as I love my Emma. I know that it would be a very very hard road but I also know that no matter what, I will always love my children no matter what. I hope that Sophie's mother can see what an amazing blessing her little girl is and that their bond can only grow stronger because she is missing out on one of he greatest gifts God can give us.