Saturday, January 24, 2009

One Year of Mothering

This weekend we celebrated Peanut's first birthday. I still can't quite believe she's here. She was born quietly at 11:59PM. I had an amazing doctor and staff. My husband was with me every step of the way and my mother was there quietly on-hand to help if we needed anything. The next few weeks and months are something of a blur; I realize that now. It seems like everyone says they'll stop and smell the roses more so to speak, as their children get older. I'd always heard that and tried to appreciate each moment as I was in it, but with little sleep and no end in sight, it was hard in the first few months.

I've learned a lot from the first year; to name a few:

No matter how much you hate a song, it may be the one and only song that will put your child to sleep. If I never hear "This Old Man" again I'd be happy.

It's possible to put a diaper on without removing a little one's tights entirely. The one-legged strip has proven to be a real sanity and time saver.

Just when you think you've got it all down, children like to shake things up and change it all around.

Snuggles are precious and increasingly hard to come by as they get older.

No matter how hard you try to remember the exact feeling of that precious little tiny bundle in your arms, you'll most likely only be able to recall the current weight/heft of your child right now.

Showers and "me-time" are to be treasured.

There will always be someone who thinks you're "doing it wrong" as a parent (or that you could be doing it better or should be doing it differently). They may tell you this directly or may simply imply it, so you'll have to learn to trust yourself as a parent to know what's right for your family.

What have you learned about parenting?

9 comments:

  1. Hear hear! Happy Birthday!

    I'm not in charge, and my plans are meaningless.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday Peanut!!

    I enjoyed reading your first year lessons :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy 1st Birthday Peanut!!! What a milestone for your mummy, daddy & you!

    I don`t have any kids yet so no life lessons on parenting but I will file what you have learnt away for another day.

    I can`t believe she was born at 11:59!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy give birth-day to YOU! And happy birthday to your little one. The best piece of advice someone gave to me was this :"Don't wish his life away". She said this to me after a really rough night of my son not sleeping and I had said "I wish he would grow out of this already". It made me stop and think. I've tried to live by that little gem ever since. Enjoy the quiet times AND the crazy times.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Birthday and Happy one year of parenting!

    I had to laugh at the 'this old man' thing. My DH read 'I am Sam' to my tummy. The girls both settle to it STILL but it drives me crazy- Seuss read without rhythm by a non native speaker is torture!!

    And you've got to post a youtube video of the onelegged tights trick. I never managed that...

    ReplyDelete
  6. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! How exciting for you guys. :) Did you have a party?

    I'm sad to anticipate those snuggles tapering off... I count each one a blessing these days.

    I've learned that when you are in a hurry to get somewhere on time, your son with inevitably give you (and himself and his clothes) a pee shower as you quickly try to change his diaper on the way out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That it may bring about tears of both joy and frustration.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We had a little party (just with family) that included some banana cake and candles. She wasn't that into the cake, but LOVED the strawberries that were garnish on top!

    ReplyDelete