Caring for a baby is something you don’t really know.. until you KNOW. Everyone sure has a lot of advice to share when they see your growing baby belly. Take some of it with a grain of salt, or heck — dismiss it all! With that being said, here’s what I’ve learned in my brief 8 months of parenting. For context, I’m a neurotic non-perfectionist and this list refers only to BABIES (really just my baby) and not CHILDREN. I don’t know a thing about children yet. Figure out the pump ahead of time. You may find yourself sobbing at 1:00
Tag Archive: motherhood
When I returned to work after having my third baby, I can’t tell you how many times people would shake their head and say, “I just don’t know how you do it!” As if I was crazy for trying to keep my job and raise children at the same time. These comments usually didn’t come from men either! I heard it from other women, even other moms! Perhaps it was my post-partum hormones, but I took it as a back-handed compliment—even though they probably said it with good intentions. The thing is, I didn’t feel like I was doing “it” very
Every mom is a good mom. You wake up early every morning to feed your kids breakfast — whether it’s cereal, eggs, or a quick granola bar. You’re up, working hard, to get your kids ready for the day… even if you had a rough night with a sleepless child and could use a few extra ZZzzZs. Every mom is a good mom. You may need a shower from constantly being on the go, but instead, you pull your hair back, throw on a pair of sweatpants, and sport that “tired mom” look with a smile. Every mom is a good
Everyone has an idea of what the perfect mom is. She is beautiful and kind, never ever yells or gets angry, and provides every meal without processed sugar or flour.Her house has no dust bunnies and she definitely doesn’t wear sweatpants to the library. She is always providing educational opportunities for learning and growing. We all see her on social media. We strive to be perfect like her when in reality, it really isn’t reality. It is a perception of what is real and it is (very) unobtainable. With the flood of information that is so readily available at our fingertips, we also bear the
Relaxation and motherhood sound like an oxymoron — totally impossible. However, we must enjoy the precious times we have with our children while they are young. Let’s not think of relaxing as a luxury, but a necessity – your children want the best, most-relaxed, stress-free version of you as a parent. Here are some simple ways to maximize relaxation during the day (and night). Invest in your morning at night. It is so wonderful to wake up with the kitchen counters clean, the coffee made and dishwasher and sink empty. Spending 10 minutes each night preparing for the next day
Due Date: I thought there was no way I was ready to be a mom but when you hit the eighth month, you are so over being pregnant. I just wanted my body back and to be able to move again. I would often say during pregnancy, “I don’t care if I give birth to a dinosaur, just get this baby out!” So no matter how nervous or scared I felt to be a mom at 6 weeks, by 38 weeks I was ready for anything. Weight Gain: I always thought I could eat whatever I wanted during pregnancy and it
Looking back now, there are a few things I wish I could go back and tell my postpartum self… Soak up the moment – Of course I remember my birthing experience, but it happened so fast that some of it is a blur to me. I wish I would have taken more pictures of my little guy in the hospital and I regret not getting a picture of the 3 of us when we were in the hospital. If I had to go back and do it again I would of hired a birth photographer. They are well worth the
Evidently, being a mother means never going to the bathroom alone, always sharing your food, late nights and early mornings, and having to change cloth diapers, clean up snot, poop, and vomit on a regular basis. Welcome to motherhood! As a mother, I rarely get time to myself to even think but it’s very important that I do get some “me” time here and there. And you need it too!! Being a woman is not easy. (Being a person in general isn’t easy!) But women seem to have things constantly on their shoulders. I know I always have a meal
I have always liked kids. I was the number one babysitter on my street, a second mom to my little brother and worked at a daycare for my summer jobs. No one was surprised when I graduated college with an Early Childhood degree. After you graduate and teach for a while, you definitely become the expert on kids – or so I thought. I would even stop moms with screaming toddlers at the grocery stores and give them tips on “positive reinforcement.” I am very sorry. I loved giving parenting “advice” to those who were close because I was the expert…
“Double the trouble!” “You’ve got your hands full!” “I could never do that!” “Why do you look so tired all the time?” Those are just a few common things a mom of twins hears. Raising twins is a lot of work, but no one wants to tell you the wonderful, outweighing benefits of two at a time. It is absolutely thrilling and wonderful, and here is why… Everyone wants to tell you it is double the work. It is not double the work. If we are getting technical it is maybe 1.25x more work. Think about it; your baby’s diaper is dirty