What changes when you have babies

Things change a lot when we have babies, no? I’m not talking about a somehow ok-looking body, sleep, or time to read- though yes, those once-taken-for-granted traits of my life have changed (and I miss all 3. Especially sleep.). I’m talking about the way we view the world. How we become softer and a bit more emotional about issues that affect children.

My husband, who is not really emotional about anything, refuses to hear me talk about cases of violence against children –which is unfortunate because that means that basically I can’t talk about work. I can talk to him in general terms about issues like genocide, sex trafficking, gang violence, but I cannot tell him the story of one child who was affected by violence. That is too much. And I feel the same way. It’s not that I went from being immune to emotions to being a walking bucket of tears- I wanted to work with and for children before I became a mom. The difference is that now I can imagine my children going through what other children go through –wars, hunger, terror, despair- and I can definitely imagine what these children’s moms must feel and think. That affects me so much. I understand how this reaction can be seen as self-centered, but that’s usually the way we function, right –to empathize through our own experience and hearts.

(Found this picture by Linsey Addario in her book about being a war photographer and it spoke to my heart)

 

If you have children or little ones you love in your life, how has this experience shaped the way you see and experience world events, particularly those affecting children?