Nobody could ever say that having a baby is easy. Or that it doesn’t change your life. Or that it won’t occasionally interfere with a good night’s sleep.

But I’ve about had it up to here with folks who have nothing but misery to report once they become parents. How many times have I heard that the first weeks are hell, miserable, a nightmare? Too many times to count, I tell you.

When I was pregnant, I anticipated the very worst because I’d been told that life with a newborn is the very worst. It’s rot, I tell you, absolute rot.

Parents-to-be, listen up: having a baby is not that bad. It is occasionally even — gasp — fun!

Everybody talks about the first smile at six weeks but there’s so much more to it than that. There’s the feeling of his warm breath on your cheek. There’s his skin smooth and supple and sweet. There’s the downy fuzz of his hair like silk through your fingers. There’s the feeling of his tiny foot in your hand; his hand on your arm.

And that’s just for starters.

Of course, there are moments when you want to throw up your hands and throw in the towel. But take those moments step by step by step by step and you — yes, you — will be just fine.

Tags: Parenting