Mother's column – The job I always dreamt of
When I was a child, I knew what I wanted to be when I was older: a maternity support worker, of course! I thought being busy with a baby all day would be fantastic.
Christian Life
When I was a child, I knew what I wanted to be when I was older: a maternity support worker, of course! I thought being busy with a baby all day would be fantastic.
I did not have the slightest idea that maternity support workers are busier with the parents than with the child. As a maternity support worker, you have to coach them in caring for the baby. And I also did not know that it was essential for a maternity support worker to get along with any siblings who can be pretty upset because of all the changes. Also, I had no clue that as a maternity support worker, you are busy with household chores a large part of your time.
Neline is married and the mother of five: Martha (8), Abel (6), Jolijn (5), Reinout (3) and Sifra (0).
The chances are that my maternity support worker career would be a disaster because of that last point.
No, I would rather write columns. However, for this very column, it took more effort to find the right words than usually does. For how do you describe an indescribably beautiful gift?
Reinout knows it. "Wow", he said wholeheartedly when he saw our little Sifra for the first time after she was born. Able stood quietly next to our bed, his face beaming. And then he whispered in my ear: "She is even sweeter than I thought she would be." Martha brought surprises all day, ranging from three sweets in a coffee filter to self-made poems. And Jolijn looked at my belly and asked hopefully whether another baby was on its way. I had to disappoint her about that, but that did not spoil the fun. We were all head over heels in love with the little bundle of human that weighed little less than four kilograms.
Fortunately for the children, they had holidays at that time. That way, they did not have to miss a moment with Sifra. Fortunately for us as parents, we had two decisive maternity support workers who took care of our moments of rest. In addition, thanks to several leftist fighters for emancipation, Jan received an enormous amount of parental leave. During the whole long summer holiday, we had all the world's time. The children did not need to be ready at 8.30 a.m., dressed neatly with their schoolbags ready and their hair done.
Instead, Sifra determined our day with her moments of feeding, her full diapers and her periods of sleep. For the rest of our activities, we planned around that schedule. I was busy with our baby all day, and all night if needed. Precisely what I dreamt of in former times.
