The New Pink

A couple weeks ago, my good friend Jamison sent me a group email with the subject line "Tomorrow's the big day!" The email announced that she was going to be induced the next day to have precious baby Isaac, and asking everyone to pray that things would go smoothly.

I found myself very distracted at work the rest of the day, wondering what Isaac would look like, and being nervous/excited for Jamison and Andrew. And I started thinking about how only a year ago, I was sending tons of emails to the florist, the pianist, bridesmaids, photographer, etc. with the same type subject line: All about the big day. The big day is coming! Gotta get ready for the big day! And so forth.

But I of course, was referring to my wedding.

That started me thinking about how my wedding day seems to pale in comparison to Isaac being born. Let me just say before everyone thinks I hate my husband that my wedding day is the most cherished day of my life. For years I dreamed of the man I would marry, but I never knew that I would actually find him, let alone that he would be as wonderful as Kyle. Once I met Kyle and started to have feelings for him, I tried to not like him because I was sure that he would never care for someone like me. Our first year of marriage has been the sweetest, strongest, and "funnest" year of my life, and while some cynics would say that those feelings will fade as the years go by, I am so looking forward to even the "boring" times of our marriage.

That being said, my point is that the preparations you do for a wedding don't really have anything to do with the actual marriage. The flowers, the dress, and the programs are very important for the sentimental reasons, but they really don't have anything to do with the actual marriage. I knew this as a bride, but it didn't change the fact that I wanted my wedding to be beautiful. (I actually think brides have to be crazy about their weddings because they need a distraction to help the days go by faster).

Everything stressful about a wedding goes away as soon as you get into the getaway car. A baby, however, continues to be stressful and important, even more so after the big day of birth. The things that you do to prepare for a baby has a permanent solution and a permanent reward.

I was talking to Kyle about this, and he made the point that I'm not weird to think this (whew!). Our entire culture has been more and more focused on babies over the past few years. Between Suri, Apple, and Violet, the tabloids have been covered with pregnant celebrities and their millionaire babies.

Kyle also made the point that people have gotten more interested in babies because they actually last, while their mommy's marriages... don't. Babies can't go away- they are permanent no matter how flat a marriage may go. People are more interested in Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's baby than their relationship because TomKat could end at any moment. Their baby however, will keep getting bigger, cuter, more spoiled, and more interesting as the years go by.

I had a professor a couple semesters ago talk about how sick he was of Hollywood making such a fuss over babies. I think his statement was something like, "Is this the first time people have seen a pregnant woman?!" I think it's true that it is a little disturbing how the media has started treating people's babies as entertainment and trophies, but I am glad that at least people are starting to value children more.

And for those curious cats out there who may associate a post about babies with a certain announcement of my own: there is none. But nice try. =)