I start most days feeling like I have a clean slate and am armed with a plan for what the “perfect” day will look like for me as a parent. I am confident, calm, and ready for what the day brings. And then inevitably things don’t go to plan. I react to situations in less than perfect ways, as my
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When my pregnancy test turned positive, I had a moment of absolute excitement and joy quickly followed by the realization that I was going to have to birth a baby. I wasn’t even that worried about how to actually parent (which I should have been) but rather was much more consumed with the daunting process of getting this little person
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I knew my life would change when I walked into the hospital to give birth to my daughter. I expected that my world would never be the same and my daily schedule would look completely different. But I don’t think I fully grasped that I would walk out a changed person. As I took on the role of “mom” I
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My toddler’s cup skipped across the floor spraying juice everywhere. I then looked over to find poop oozing out of my baby’s onesie. It was 11:00 am and I still hadn’t found time to eat breakfast or have coffee. My toddler started screaming out “Mommy! Mommy!” while my baby shrieked. I felt frustrated and angry so I ran to the
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We live in a tiny two-room house, so when we got pregnant with our second child I knew that one day I would have to move the baby in with our toddler. I dreaded it. I had no idea how to do it and I doubted it would even work. I imagined that the baby would cry and wake up
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“Give me the baby” my aunt demanded as I handed her my four-month-old daughter. My aunt was meeting my daughter for the first time at a small family gathering. My baby immediately began to cry, and I reached out to take her back. My aunt stepped back telling me forcefully “she is fine.” I awkwardly laughed and responded with “she
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For some reason when I was a new mom, I equated not giving my child my full attention with bad parenting. I felt a twinge of guilt whenever I was doing something else and my baby was playing by herself on the floor. While fun most of the time, it also felt like an obligatory duty. Before I had kids,
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In those first few weeks with my newborn, I could hardly stand the thought of putting her down. I felt an urge to be close to her all the time and didn’t want to part with her, even for naps. I found myself pulling out my sling or carrier all day long. It made me happy, she hardly cried, and
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Six weeks postpartum was that magical milestone when I expected to be back to feeling like myself. I had my final appointment with my midwife scheduled and was told I would likely be cleared to resume normal activity. I took that to mean that I would be able to do hard workouts and run again. I would be ready to
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I spent the months before my baby was born immersed in books about breastfeeding. It was a completely foreign concept to me. Sure, I had seen people breastfeed, but that was the extent of my knowledge. As I started to read about the incredible benefits, I also found myself wide-eyed as I learned about everything that could go wrong. Breastfeeding
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