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A New Year,
A New Light
© 1999,
by Lisa M. Roberts
The above copyright has changed from 8
to 9 and I, for one, am glad of it. For those of you who shared
a wearisome 1998, either personally or professionally, here's
to turning the bend. And for those of you who enjoyed a fun and
prosperous 1998, here's to the thrill of another 365-day ride
on the EP roller coaster.
Of course, there's nothing like
having a January baby to replenish the new year with an even
greater splash than the norm. Actually, my "baby" is
turning three (on the 21st), so this is probably the very last
year I can say "January baby." (I am allowing myself
to say baby because he is still in diapers and a crib, but only
for the next 8 days...!) I can't say it seems like only yesterday
when I was pregnant with him because it seems like A HUNDRED
YEARS AGO!!
In three years, my then toddler
has become a kindergartener, my then kindergartener is gulping
down Hardy Boy Books by the dozen, my then third-grader is now
dabbling a little perfume on before her "Neon Nights"
(the town's monthly teen gala event), and my then infant is now
saying, "Mommy, pewt your na'kin on your yap." In looking
at photos of the pregnancy and then glancing at the face in the
mirror, I'm convinced all one hundred years have shown up (think
"Picture of Dorian Gray"). Gratefully, when I look
at the faces on my children I see only three more years on theirs.
As for the entrepreneurial end
of things, a clip from my book echoes some present sentiments:
- "It has
been a full year since I started writing the original draft of
this manuscript. My youngest was conceived alongside this book
and the two have grown within me like healthy twins, persistant
and vibrant and unified. While I have given birth to one I await
the arrival of the other, the first who offers me sweet peace
while his "twin" competes for attention. It's as if
the past nine years of parenthood-tug-career-tug-parenthood-tug-career
has peaked in this moment as my family holds on, strong and steady.
We are challenged, but we unite. We hold on. And like my first,
my last leads the way with a sparkle and a faith only a gift
from heaven can provide."
In reflecting on all that has
happened since that writing, as my little sparkle is about to
turn three, I am struck by how bright and direct his light has
turned out to be. At the time of Thomas's birth, I felt torn
between being a parent and a professional as never before. The
work-family conflict was truly at its peak. Having a book published
was the culmination of a life dream, it was almost a validation
of who I was and who I always have been. At the same time, having
a fourth child was the culmination of another lifedream, one
I shared with my husband and other family members. To add pleasure
and pressure onto pleasure and pressure, we were also house-hunting
back then.
And yet this past year was even
more stressful than the one in which my "baby" was
born. As mentioned in the last EPnews
issue, we lost a dear and special family member in 1998, my father.
But through his innocence, charm, and here-and-now needs, Thomas
has pulled my focus towards him through it all, as only a baby
could. Through the triumphs and let-downs of book publishing,
the good-byes and hellos of a family move, the excitement and
hard work of a new partnership and business start-up, the inexpressible
grief of a death in the family, my baby's light has been there
to shine steady and consistent for me.
As the youngest, Thomas has no
one to pass the torch onto. He will enter the stage of young
boyhood and this time I will not be replenished by newborn parenthood
again. Yet something tells me my little sunbeam will never be
dulled. As we embark on a new year together as a strong community
of "entrepreneurial
parents," may each
of us keep our focus on the sparkles in our lives. Their light
is ever-ready, through the turbulence and the calm, quick to
shine and lead the way. All we have to do on our end is keep
the faith.
- Lisa Roberts is the mother of four,
owner of The
Entrepreneurial Parent, LLC and the author of How to Raise A Family &
A Career Under One Roof: A Parent's Guide to Home Business
(Bookhaven Press, 1997). Copies of her book are available for
purchase at EP
and through
Amazon.
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