Raising Ana

by Christina Weigand
(Puyallup Washington USA)

RAISING ANA




Several years ago, I discovered I was pregnant. To say the least my husband and I were not overjoyed, although not completely unhappy either. A quick history lesson for those who don’t know me. When we got this news we had been married almost twenty five years and had raised three children, so we were pretty set on our life’s path. God’s plans for our life intercepted ours.

So here we are seven years later raising another child. Now you would think since we’d already done this three times over, easy right. Not so fast there. I have come to believe that as mothers, like childbirth, we forget how to raise children. Therefore we are willing to have more and raise them.

Our youngest daughter is a challenge that God set before us, one more chance to make a difference. I joke that Anastasia, our youngest is a mix of the best and worst of the five of us that came before her. She looks like our middle child, a son, acts like her oldest brother and learns from her older sister. Of course, she has all the genes and DNA from her parents, so she has become a potpourri child, a blessing to us that keeps us young.

A few interesting things have occurred in her young life, make raising her a challenge. When she was born, two of her older siblings along with a foreign exchange student were living with us. At first they treated her like a little sister, but as she got older and their lives moved on, they became more like parents.

Then her older sister had a child of her own and the two of them continued to live with us while the brothers moved in and out. Sister became a mother at least in theory and Ana felt as if she had four or five parents at any given time. This was difficult and confusing for the two year old.

Fast forward, Ana is seven years old, my husband and I are now in our late forties. The three of us are facing major life shifts through job change and a move across the country away from our lifelong family home. Now Ana becomes an only child, with her brothers, sister and niece staying on the east coast. As her parents we have walked a fine line between spoiling her and ensuring she made a smooth transition.

Raising Ana is an interesting journey. Everything we learned from the first three children helps, but with new situations we have to develop new methods. With a child that is, in essence, an only child, if not in reality we need to do things differently.

One of the things I have discovered, which has been a big help is to rely on God. I don’t have all the answers, but He does. Many days and nights I find myself praying, praying for Ana and praying for her parents. I place this child of God in His loving embrace and pray for the guidance to care for and raise this child He has loaned me. Without God to rely on, when I want to give up on this child and accept defeat, I’m not at all sure we would survive. However God has become my rock, the one I turn to when all seems bleakest. With His help we will finish this journey and be better people, better parents because of it.