Baby Tips on Life

Babies can teach you a lot about life.  Although they can’t talk and have no intention of doing anything but getting their needs met, being around a newborn baby can teach you, or at least remind you, of a few key points in life.

We’re back from the hospital and that smiling face you see is our new little daughter!  An unlikely teacher, here is what I’ve learned from her in the few short days we’ve known each other.

Life Moves Fast

When our almost three year old son came to visit his new little sister, he brought along pictures of when he was first born.  It brought back memories of how uncomfortable his first night of life was for us and how we’d thought it would never end.  But then I realized I was actually looking back fondly on the memories of our tiny boy and all the grief he had caused us.

Here he is almost three and I’m sad that all of those experiences we had with him are over.  Now when our little girl cries in the middle of the night, even though my body screams at me not to get up, I remind myself to cherish the crying little creature with skinny legs and a tiny head because someday soon she’ll be a cruisin three year old who will have no interest in letting me hold her tight.

What I’m reminded of is not to wish away the uncomfortable times in life because more often than not, something “uncomfortable” is happening. If we always focus on getting through the rough times and looking forward to the “good times” then we’ll end up glazing over a lot of neat experiences in life.

Health Matters

Epidural’s sure are expensive but according to my wife they’re worth every penny : )  Of course an epidural is an elective procedure but I think it represents our willingness to spend the money we need to make our loved ones comfortable and safe.

I would spend whatever I needed in order to keep our little girl healthy and growing.  Of course there are some things we simply couldn’t afford, which is why I have to make sure our family has insurance to protect them in those scenarios. I feel so badly for the families with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.  I can’t even imagine how painful an experience it must be, and if you had no money to pay for needed treatment it would be agonizing beyond belief.

I guess this is a two part lesson, the first is for me.  Always have good health insurance for my family.  The second part is for our nation’s politicians.  Focus your efforts on the health care system because it’s a problem that isn’t going away.  People will continue to have babies, they’ll continue to get old and need treatment.  The problem isn’t going away, it’s only getting worse.

Practice Makes Perfect

Although the last few days have been rough, they haven’t been as jolting and exhausting as the first days after our son was born.  Some of it has to do with things out of our control but part of it is that we’ve been through the process before and knew how to prepare/react.

Having a baby is certainly scary.  Especially the first time through, you don’t know what to expect or exactly what to do.  But eventually you figure it out and if you decide to do it again, you’re better at it.  This is no different than many new things in life.  They may be scary but the only way to figure it out is to give it a shot. 

If we’d have decided not to have a baby because we were afraid of having and raising a kid we’d have missed out on some of the best experiences in our lives.  I have to remember that next time I’m faced with a decision that I’m scared of making.  I can’t avoid things simply because I don’t know how to do them or what to expect.  I have to get them a try and remember that practice makes (semi) perfect.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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