We’ve All Been There
Some of us thought we knew exactly how things will be when the baby arrives.
Maybe we would only use cloth diapers, homemade organic baby food, organic cotton swaddling blankets, strictly breastfeed, never use a pacifier, whatever it may be, it was a done deal. We made those decisions ahead of time and were just sitting on go, just waiting on baby.
Reality Sets In
Shortly after the baby arrives, we may insist that those were simply draft plans, absolutely tentative, and by all means flexible. With the joys of little children comes reality. Even weighing in at less than 10 pounds those precious little babies have the ability to turn your life all kinds of crazy. We might find that the children don’t sleep as much as we planned, or they might never learn to latch to breastfeed, or that they go through A LOT more diapers than we had estimated.
Quick, React!
We start cutting corners, sneaking in a disposable diaper here and there, or maybe just a little bit of time loving on a pacifier – after all, it clearly makes them feel better, right? Feel that funny feeling? That is you, losing your grip on all those plans you had. The reality is, ultimately, something has to give. Time to prioritize. One thing that I quickly learned is that it isn’t necessarily how long a task takes, instead determining where that task falls in the grand scheme of things.
Feed Me
For me, I gave up hope on making homemade baby food. Before my son was born I was confident that I would make all of his food. After all, how much work could that be? Boil some vegetables, throw them in a blender, Chef Mama in the making.
Reality was that I was working full-time outside of the home, washing bottles at night to supply my pumping sessions the next day, and of course, doing laundry. For me, these priorities ranked above homemade baby food.
Don’t Compare
I’m warning you that you might meet a super mom that can achieve all of her pre-baby goals, and throw in some time for yoga and pampering. If so, rock on girl.
She is doing what works for her. Not you. Point being, everyone has different situations, different resources, different time constraints. Don’t kick yourself for dropping something you were so sure you’d be doing as a parent, but were unable to achieve. You’re just making up for your awesomeness elsewhere.
Sticking it Out
Natural childbirth and glass breastmilk bottles are two examples of things that were important enough for me that I stuck with them. (Both were a lot of work, I must say!)
Between hearing some not so great stories about epidurals, and feeling like my bond with my son would be even more special if I had experienced the natural childbirth process, I stuck by this priority. As for the glass milk bottles, well, plastic kind of freaks me out, and I didn’t want anything leeching in to the milk. Again, that is me, not you, not anyone else.
So please, tell me, is there something that you felt strongly about before becoming a parent, but relaxed or changed your view after your child came in to your life?