Tarana Khan

Love is...smiling over a dirty diaper!


It's Valentine's Day, and Emily of My Petite Canard tagged me in a 'Love is..' series. For my post, I am going to write about how the definition of love changes for couples who become parents. For the first year after your child is born, it's easy to forget that you have a role besides parenting. In fact, you are parents first, before everything else. I would say that's completely natural, but it does take work to sustain a marriage (or partnership) after children. Many swear by 'date night', but my husband and I have never wanted to be away from Little Dude. We wanted to have as many special moments with him as we could.

A marriage changes in so many ways post parenthood. Most importantly, it is enriched by the millions of instances of love, pride, learning, and fatigue that raising children entails. There are so many memories of milestones reached, challenges overcome, and perspective shifts that only the two of you have been witness to. So, here follows my list of what love means for parents.


Love is...

  • Keeping each other standing in times of complete disorientation caused by sleep deprivation.
  • Worrying about your newborn's bowel movements, and being relieved over a dirty diaper.
  • Feeling more proud of the first smile, the first tooth, and the first step, than a promotion at work.
  • Giving each other a look of relief when the baby finally goes to sleep.
  • Talking in whispers and walking on tiptoes to make sure the nap lasts long.
  • Finding beauty even in the stretch marks, unshaved legs and dark circles.
  • Spending the weekend just playing and running with a toddler.
  • Having late-night dinners after catching up with everything that needed to be done.
  • Communicating by texting because it's tough to talk around an active toddler.
  • Sending each other photos of the kid, instead of selfies.
  • Watching the same TV shows at different times, and discussing them later.
  • Buying chocolates, only to have them found and consumed by the toddler.

Happy Valentine's Day to all Moms and Dads, even if you don't celebrate it in the conventional sense!

I am tagging the following bloggers to write their own 'Love is...' lists and #SpreadTheLove. Please don't forget to link back to My Petit Canard here: http://mypetitcanard.co.uk/2014/02/12/love-is/. As always, there is pressure to join in!
- Jamie at The Oliver's Madhouse
- Victoria at Verily, Victoria Vocalises
- Tas of Not My Year Off
- Alex of Broody Me

What are the things that made your relationship extra special after parenthood?


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