What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Generosity of Parents

Amidst the hustle bustle of city life, one of the most surprising things about parenting is how willing people are in sharing their experiences. The good, the bad and the ugly.

“When’s the baby due?” they’d ask.

“Christmas,” I’d reply. “I’d appreciate any tips or recommended reading,” I’d add.

And while not everything might make sense to me right now, I’ve learned to squirrel away their advice because there are some lessons I don’t need to learn by making costly mistakes.

Advice Worth its Weight in Gold

Here’s some of the recurring advice I hear:

  • “You’ll know what to do when the time comes”
  • “Trust your instinct”
  • “Get as much sleep as you can now and enjoy it!”
  • “If you’re calm, the baby will follow your cue”
  • “Everyone will tell you their way’s the right way. Listen and do what’s right for you”
  • “Spending time with my children is a conscious decision and the best one I’ve made”

Their collective wealth of experience inspires me with several thoughts:

  • Be kind and gentle to yourself
  • All you can do is your best and keep improving
  • Sustainable pace

It seems that parenting and Agile have a great deal in common. It certainly seems like a good test of one’s personal agility. How do you put your agility to the test?

2 Responses to “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”

  1. Al MacLeod writes:

    Other similarities with Agile include:
    – Everyone’s got an opinion
    – … but it’s mostly anecdotal, and has little relevance to your own project
    – The specifics of the methodology don’t matter as much as constant re-evaluation, learning from mistakes, and working consistently as a team (include all members here, pigs and chickens alike)

    And finally:

    – The second project is always different, in new and exciting ways …

  2. Duncan Pierce writes:

    I think being kind to yourself is one of the most important things you can ever learn. To some people it doesn’t come easily.

    Best wishes – Duncan

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