Delicious feels: The joy of getting to know your friend’s new baby
I am on top of the world today. I trilled “morning!” in a sing-song voice to everyone I passed on the walk back from the school run. I am in a bubble of joy.
“We’re having a baby!”
It’s like I’m a dude and my wife had a baby yesterday and I am going back to the hospital to visit. Except I’m not. My ‘wife’ is my friend. A dear friend. I know I am not the only mama to feel this way when a new baby comes into your fold.
For the last nine months, my friend and I have been talking about this little soul-on-the-way. This little soul who arrived yesterday!
Actually we were talking about her even before she got pregnant. Because we are mum-friends and that’s what we do.
We meet about every week and our boys play together. I have been excited for her, not just because she and her beautiful man are having another bubba, but because their son will now have a sibling.
And I confess, I have also been more than a bit excited for me because this baby will now join our little play dates. A teeny tiny beautiful bub who I will get to watch blossom into a little walking, talking person.
I mean, how awesome is that?!
Explosion of joy
The other reason I am a puddle of love today, is that I am just so happy for my friend. I know she knows this new baby joy; I know this joy, every parent on the planet knows this joy, but experiencing this AGAIN after you have already had a child is pretty darn special.
That sweet newborn smell, those sleepy cuddles, the sure feeling that THIS is the meaning of your life.
There are also so many beautiful memories coming her way. Like those bonding moments between her big boy and his little sister that she notices but can’t capture in a photo. I’m talking about him looking wide eyed into the hospital bassinet for the first time, and then seeing him cuddle and kiss her at home like she’s been here forever.
Then fast forward a few years: them playing together in the garden with the family dog and her feeling like life couldn’t get more magical than this moment — just before someone wees on the grass. Moments are fleeting!
So I feel a knowing joy on her behalf, having had two kids myself who are now little buddies (most of the time).
A shared happiness
The happiness I’m feeling right now is rare and precious.
It’s not often that we feel overwhelming joy for someone else. But then a baby will do that. A baby is a gift to the world.
I couldn’t be happier for my friend and her family. Swoon!
