Joy, rocking, peace, nursery rhymes, scared, screams, diaper blowouts, confidence, tears, bruises, Pete the cat, snuggle puppy, sitting up, crawling, standing, walking, proud, food, cherrios, pumping, laughing, tickles, "I'm gonna get ya," play dates, block towers, teething, signs - dance like a monkey?, prayer, day care, family time, giggles, bed time stories, somewhere over the rainbow, love, love, love.
Today is officially the last day of the year, and I have been doing a lot of reflecting this month on my role as a parent. My life changed dramatically, as I welcomed a baby boy, and here are my top lessons that I've learned in the past 10 months.
1. The change is deep.
I knew my budget would change - hello diapers! I knew my sleep habits would change - hello coffee! I knew that spontaneity would now be a rare thing - hello nap time! But I didn't realize how unselfish I was going to become towards my child.
When it comes to meal time, I feed him before I feed myself. If baby wants more food, I take it from my plate. When we go to a restaurant, many times, I don't really order what I want because I know it would be best to order something else, so that I can also feed my baby. I rarely make purchases for myself because I would rather spend my money on my child.
When visiting the in-laws, you let your baby sleep with you because you know this is the only way everyone will get sleep. However, you didn't think that he would sleep horizontally leaving you to the edge of the bed causing you back pain for the next 12 hours.
I think differently. My thoughts are now focused on meeting the needs of my baby. I tend to forget things more often now, because I am putting his needs before my own. For example, we were all packed up, car started, seconds before leaving for MS, and as I am doing a quick diaper change, I realize that I forgot to pack pants for myself.
It's quite funny, because I can recall hearing people say everything I have listed, but I didn't understand the dept of that change until I experienced it. The list will continue on, and I'm ok with that because it's all done in love.
2. You grow with your child.
When your baby is a newborn, you are a mom. Period. I had a very hard time accepting this. I am an independent woman with a career and hobbies, and it all had to be put on hold. However, as my baby is growing, I have been able to jump back into my career and slowly pick up my hobbies again. Let me emphasize the slowly. Really slow.
I know life will continually change as my child grows. Right now, we still can't go to the movie theater unless we get a babysitter. One day, Logan can join us. We can go to restaurants and enjoy a meal - as long as our little guy has food and food while waiting for food. :)
3. Trust your instincts.
No one knows your child like you do. Advice is nice, but go with your gut.
Cheers to 2015, as the journey of parenting continues.
-Miche
(incomplete, but posted anyway bc it's four months into the year ;)
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Mommy Rant
To the mom who thinks she's not good enough or wants the grass that's greener on the other side:
*cough cough* me.
Stop.
Stop reading the blogs and the opinions of others. Hide them from your newsfeed. You can tell from the title if you will be encouraged or not. All these words are tearing you down inside, and making you feel like the worst mother in the world.
Stop comparing your world and life to someone else whose world is displayed perfectly on social media. I'm guilty. Why the facade? Because I don't want my "friends" to know I don't have it together 24/7...So why do I assume my friends do as well? If they do, bravo! I'm happy for you. Seriously. Life is hard and can suck sometimes, and when I have it all together, I hope others are happy for me as well.
I'm tired of all the put downs - even the ones that are unintentional. I don't want to read a blog about how you don't have it all together, and you can't make those cute bento box lunches. Do you realize the hurt you can cause to that mother who does make those cute bento box lunches and enjoys making them? I understand you are trying to be "real," but I don't feel the need to include this info in your blog. Even if it's not intended, you are possibly tearing down another mother.
There are ways of being real without including such info. For example: Yesterday I was tired. Very tired. I had a long week with a child running high fever which caused him to miss day care and me to miss work, which caused me to stay up very late catching up on my work. The house got somewhat picked up and chores got somewhat done this week. However, my family has clean clothes on their back, and belly's were full. Necessities were met, and we even had some fun moments walking around our neighborhood chatting with neighbors and swinging in the backyard. Bravo for making it another week! Could I have done better this week? Of course, but I won't tear down those that might of handled this week better than I did.
I don't feel like mom's praise one another for the jobs they are doing. A mother who enjoys making cute bento box lunches for their child should be celebrated! That's awesome that you can do that! It may not be my niche, but I'm not going to complain about it - because really, I'm jealous of your skill.
A mom makes bento lunches.
A mom makes a pb&j and sends encouraging notes for lunch.
A mom packs a lunchable and a cupcake. (because your child's favorite snack is cupcakes)
A mom sends their child with nothing but lunch money.
Bravo!
Bravo to you all for feeding your child for the day. All these actions are viewed the same in my eyes, because they were done in love. Love. You fed your child because you love them. We all express love to our children, in different ways.
Why do we judge each other so much? . . . Is it to make ourselves feel better on the job we are doing?
Why do we compare each other's actions? . . .Is it to put ourselves above others?
Why do we compare our lives? . . . Is it to justify the choices we made for ourselves?
To the stay at home mom,
To the working mom,
To the mom who got a babysitter for a couple of hours so that she could drink a cup of her favorite coffee in peace,
To the mom who has it all together,
To the mom who makes it day by day,
To the mom who loves her child with all her heart,
Bravo!
Bravo.
Peace, Love, Choosing to praise mom's,
-Miche
*cough cough* me.
Stop.
Stop reading the blogs and the opinions of others. Hide them from your newsfeed. You can tell from the title if you will be encouraged or not. All these words are tearing you down inside, and making you feel like the worst mother in the world.
Stop comparing your world and life to someone else whose world is displayed perfectly on social media. I'm guilty. Why the facade? Because I don't want my "friends" to know I don't have it together 24/7...So why do I assume my friends do as well? If they do, bravo! I'm happy for you. Seriously. Life is hard and can suck sometimes, and when I have it all together, I hope others are happy for me as well.
I'm tired of all the put downs - even the ones that are unintentional. I don't want to read a blog about how you don't have it all together, and you can't make those cute bento box lunches. Do you realize the hurt you can cause to that mother who does make those cute bento box lunches and enjoys making them? I understand you are trying to be "real," but I don't feel the need to include this info in your blog. Even if it's not intended, you are possibly tearing down another mother.
There are ways of being real without including such info. For example: Yesterday I was tired. Very tired. I had a long week with a child running high fever which caused him to miss day care and me to miss work, which caused me to stay up very late catching up on my work. The house got somewhat picked up and chores got somewhat done this week. However, my family has clean clothes on their back, and belly's were full. Necessities were met, and we even had some fun moments walking around our neighborhood chatting with neighbors and swinging in the backyard. Bravo for making it another week! Could I have done better this week? Of course, but I won't tear down those that might of handled this week better than I did.
I don't feel like mom's praise one another for the jobs they are doing. A mother who enjoys making cute bento box lunches for their child should be celebrated! That's awesome that you can do that! It may not be my niche, but I'm not going to complain about it - because really, I'm jealous of your skill.
A mom makes bento lunches.
A mom makes a pb&j and sends encouraging notes for lunch.
A mom packs a lunchable and a cupcake. (because your child's favorite snack is cupcakes)
A mom sends their child with nothing but lunch money.
Bravo!
Bravo to you all for feeding your child for the day. All these actions are viewed the same in my eyes, because they were done in love. Love. You fed your child because you love them. We all express love to our children, in different ways.
Why do we judge each other so much? . . . Is it to make ourselves feel better on the job we are doing?
Why do we compare each other's actions? . . .Is it to put ourselves above others?
Why do we compare our lives? . . . Is it to justify the choices we made for ourselves?
To the stay at home mom,
To the working mom,
To the mom who got a babysitter for a couple of hours so that she could drink a cup of her favorite coffee in peace,
To the mom who has it all together,
To the mom who makes it day by day,
To the mom who loves her child with all her heart,
Bravo!
Bravo.
Peace, Love, Choosing to praise mom's,
-Miche
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