I'm sure that any mom can relate when I say that from the time that you announce that you're "expecting" you get advice from everywhere. As I experience mommyhood, there are a few pieces of advice that have stuck out and really applied to me...
"If you aren't already, always put the new diaper under Annabelle before moving the dirty one out of the way."
I don't know if all babies do this, but for about the first 2 months of her life, it seemed like every time we changed Annabelle's diaper we went through an extra one just because she decided to pee and/or poop as we were changing her diaper. We tried opening the diaper and waiting for her to "do her thing" before actually removing the diaper, but still... another diaper was needed! The lap pads helped a lot because if we weren't able to get an extra diaper there fast enough, the lap pads on the changing table usually caught whatever we didn't (Thank you for the lap pad advice, Mom!). Dispite our efforts, there were still a few "poop through the air" (and even pee... yes, little girls can "shoot" pee too!) experiences, but we survived it and by about 2 months old, she'd grown out of this habit... most of the time anyway.
"Breastfeeding is NOT easy!"
This may not sound like "advice", but it really helped me! When we were in the hospital, Annabelle and I struggled a little bit to make breastfeeding work, but we seemed to get it. But then when we got home, it suddenly became hard to do again. She wasn't latching right, the pillows weren't in the right place, my neck hurt from straining to see what was going on, I had a hard time holding her head the right way, her mouth wouldn't open all the way, blah, blah, blah... This "advice" about breastfeeding being hard actually helped me a lot because it let me know that I wasn't alone, and that it will get easier and just keep trying. And now, although it definitely wasn't at first, breastfeeding IS easy and totally worth any "work" that we had to put in to making it easy! Note: This one was written a year ago... I'm not still breastfeeding Annabelle.
"Cherish the times when they lay their heads on your shoulder because it doesn't last."
When Annabelle was first born and the Gallers' visited, Leah was still under a year old. At bedtime she got sleepy and laid her head on her Mommy's shoulder, and Angelle said this. It wasn't many months later that I realized how right Angelle was. Annabelle is not a cuddler, so I really cherish any time that she'll give me a big hug and even sometimes when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night and needs comforting. Lately she's been very clingy to me, and cuddling is occasionally one of the (FEW) benefits of that, but I still cherish every little hug because I know that one day before I know it she'll be too old to cuddle with me at all!
"Take lots of video in addition to photos. Video captures lots that photos just can't."
As you know, I take LOTS of pictures, but this statement couldn't be more true. Annabelle loves to watch the podcast videos of herself so we watch them often, but it still amazes me how much she has changed every time that I watch the vidoes. I have also heard so many mothers of older children comment "I can't even remember my kids at that age", and I hope that I take enough video that if I ever do forget my kids at a certain age, then I can go back and watch the video to spark the memories. In fact, lately I've found myself thinking that I don't take enough video of the little things like the way that Annabelle loves to talk about how "hot" her food is throughout her meal, the way she says "Annabelle" and "Mama", or her laugh when she chases Daddy around the house. I hope that I never forget any of those things!
These are just a few things that really stood out, but there are so many other things that I have learned from moms, especially my own Mom! I think the most important thing that I've learned from my own Mom can't really be summed up in one piece of advice but rather by the example that she is for me. I've really learned so much from my experience with her, and from watching her with my sister and brother. I hope that I'm half the Mom to my kids that she was and is for me, and that my kids say the same thing about me someday... even if it takes them 30 years to realize it!
2 comments:
That's a good post, I might steal it. :)
I like your post as well. With my rather unconventional circumstances I didn't get the "breastfeeding is hard" advice and I wish I had. It is true but like you said it is worth it once you get the hang of it.
I feel the same way about my mom.
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