“Now you know what we’ve been talking about.”

This is one of the responses I got when I had Luke from friends who have already got kids. Mostly from those that had kids when they were younger and have, somewhat condescendingly, seemed to think that I haven’t really lived until I’ve had a child, and that now I’m one of the “in club” and surely I’ve seen the light and realized what I’ve been missing out on all these years.

In a nice way.. they are saying “I told you so!”.

Unfortunately for them, I’m still missing the point. Having a child has been amazing, but has it been the most amazing and defining thing I could ever possibly ultimately experience? Probably not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed to be a Mother and to have my darling little boy, but as experiences go, its another one in a long list of experiences I have throughout my life. In many ways, it compares to being hauled over a mountain pass in Nepal on a donkey half-dead of altitude sickness, the thrill of bringing a multi-million dollar project to completion in the corporate world, or flipping houses for profit. All of the experiences of my life have been amazing and have molded who I am.. and I’m sure this will be no different in that regard too.

When people tell me that this was the ULTIMATE and DEFINING experience of their life, (and insist that is is going to be the same for me) I really just want to say “You REALLY need to go and climb a mountain!”

I don’t though.. because I really don’t want to burst their bubble.