During my major pruning session for our upcoming move (in less than 2 weeks), I ran across an old issue of Parenting magazine (Feb. 2008 to be exact). Since most of our reading material has been packed up, I decided to just flip through a bit while in the bathtub. Yes, I am amazed that I got a quiet bath—thank God for DVDs! This article by Jennifer Graham Kizer really struck me.
In case you missed it (it was over a year ago), which even if you did I’m sure you all don’t remember since I probably did read it and still don’t remember….I’ll refresh. The article is about a new mom of a one year old. One who is both amazed at every new thing her daughter does and fearful of all the things she might try. She realizes she’s a novice in the eyes of her friends—many who have more than one child.
All of baby’s firsts are wonderful precious gifts. And in all honesty it’s amazing (OK incredibly amazing) when your first child does all his first milestones. But when the next and the next does it—it’s amazing but more as a comparable thing. My son began crawling at seven months. When my daughter was seven months and showed no signs of crawling I began to wonder . . . “what’s wrong with her?” And, honestly, while I was amazed at all she could do, I was always comparing her to what my son did at this age.
Add this on to the fact that I probably didn’t accurately remember what my son did because once I was hugging the porcelain God with morning sickness I probably wasn’t accurately recording all the details of when he walked, talked, etc. I also know FOR SURE I wasn’t enjoying all the novice mom moments I should have been enjoying. I was trying to survive the pregnancy with a baby. Trying to endure the last few months of being 30-pounds overweight with a newly walking toddler. Trying to exist with two babies in diapers who had constant needs round the clock.
We’re all new moms at one time. There are things we all should enjoy about our new babies, but the fact of the matter is as a Baby Buncher there are a lot of moments missed and a lot of milestones which pass as a blur. The truth is you won’t remember, especially if you are pregnant or have a new baby. But you want to and you do your best to remember.
Quick tips: Take a picture or a quick video. Jot a note down and stick it in a jar with a date. Keep a loose journal. I am grateful for the scrapbooks I did keep during those early years to help me remember. Blogging counts so do that. You’re a new mom and you’re entitled to all the wonderful new moms feeling—even if you’re pregnant or already have another baby in tow. Do what you can, when you can, to try and remember/document some of it. The new mommy bliss is wonderful and even us Baby Bunchers have to try to nab some of it when we can.
i'm so glad i started blogging, for this very reason!
Posted by: MommyNamedApril | Apr 21, 2009 at 07:24 AM