I consider myself to be a new dad (parent), but the other day I was talking to Lucy and we started asking ourselves when do you lose the right to use the title new mom, new dad, and new parent?
Is there something like an old parent?
For me an old parent is one that has had too many kids about 12 and has proven himself as a true veteran or old parent in my mind also translates to grandparent (which I like more).
New makes me love the title more
As humans the word new can be enchanting. I remember getting my 1st Palm Pilot back in 1999 or 2000. I was so happy with it, a few years later I decided to upgrade to Palm 505 which was a color PDA, then two years after that I bought myself a Palm Tungsten T3, and so the story continues to my first smartphone a Palm Treo 650 all the way to now where I have an iPhone 4. I would love to get the iPhone 4s but wanting to upgrade is a bad addiction many people have. The same goes when you buy a car and months later you stop seeing your car as a new one.
Since objects don’t evolve it is easier for them too lose the charm fairly quickly. The experience of being a parent and having children is different since they continue to evolve into new stages with different needs.
Your always a New Parent
I am so attached to the new parent title, I want to keep it for a while and I might have way to do so. Maybe by creating different stages (since each kid is so unique many things will be new):
Newborn → New Parent
Toddler → New Toddler Parent
Teenager → New Teenager Parent
Going through school where you are a freshman in High School and then In college so why not be a new parent at each stage.
Seeing that my mom sees me as her baby I think that after 32 years she is still holding on to the title giving me another excuse to keep the title.
How do you feel about the term new Parent?
[…] Over the past 12 months we have shared many things we felt might be of interest to you and the rest of our readers. From sharing my advice on how carrots can help with teething to helping you understand a bit more how to recently sharing on how I feel as a new dad every time I reach a Milestone. […]