Monday, May 17, 2010
Life Unexpected: A Day in the Life of Mom
I honestly did not expect that being a mom would bring me so many surprises. On one hand, motherhood just seemed to fall into my lap naturally. From the minute I held my tiny baby's hand for the first time, all the Mama Bear instincts seemed to come from within. Remember, I was not allowed to hold her until she was a few weeks old, because she was born so prematurely. Hours after her birth though, I was able to hold her little hand (which was the size of my thumb nail!).I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I babysat a lot as a teenager and since my youngest brother is eleven years younger than I am, I was his second mom. I had no fears of not being able to be a good mom to my little one. I just knew I would be okay.
Now, it's the stumbling through motherhood that I hadn't thought of. I knew I'd be a good mom to Little One, but I didn't say I'd be a perfect mom. There are so many things I never even thought about.
I'm usually a very punctual person. In fact, I like being where I'm supposed to be at least ten or fifteen minutes early. Depending on the nature of the appointment, sometimes even half an hour to an hour early! I know. Pretty crazy. I just like being on time.Now that I have a baby, I still try leaving early for appointments. For some reason, I always end up ten or fifteen minutes LATE! As organized as I can be, I always seem to forget something or the baby conveniently needs a diaper change as soon as we're about to leave the house.
Friends also warned me that one must "respect the nap"! I scoffed at this years before I became a parent. I never understood why my friends who had children could not just take their kids with them to the restaurant so we could meet up for brunch on a Sunday morning.
Though Little One can sleep just about anywhere, I have to admit that I am now very respectful of the nap! If she's sleeping, I don't want to wake her. My new motto is "Never wake up a sleeping baby...if you can avoid it"! This said, if she's already awake, she goes everywhere with me.
Friends and family warned me about the goose eggs and the poop, but I never expected having to actually experience some of mom's finer moments like these. The emotions one goes through in a single day are enough to write a screenplay or can even be considered...blog fodder! Who would have ever imagined!?
Little One was running around the house last week and ran right smack into the bathroom door. Depth perception at this age is a funny thing, it seems! She practically knocked herself out and ended up splayed on the floor with an instant goose egg. Of course, this all has to happen on my watch.
I can only imagine the look on my face. These little toddler accidents seem to happen in slow motion if you're a parent and seeing this happen. It happens so quickly that you can't really get there in time to avoid it from happening, yet all the actions seem to unfold in slow mo'!
Then we were supposed to go visit our friends SuperAmazingMommy and Maria from Notes from a Brown House. I had just given Little One a bath so she could be all fresh for her play date. What happened next took me by total surprise. I had heard about these things happening to friends, but I never expected to actually experience it myself.
As I was about to take Little One out of the tub, what should I see? Three little logs floating in the bath water! Ackkkkk! I'm the worst for dealing with stuff like that. It just grosses me out completely! Of course, Little One thought it was funny and was giggling away. Never in my life would I have imagined that many of my discussions would involve poop! Gah!
That little incident put us back a few minutes and threw my schedule off. The west end of the island is over an hour away from us. Remember, I like being on time!
All cleaned, changed, and ready to be put in her car seat, Little One was a happy camper. She was holding my keys while I strapped her into her car seat and as I closed the van door, I heard a click!
My heart tensed up. Panic struck me. OH MY GOSH! MY 18 MONTH OLD IS LOCKED IN THE VAN!!!
Of course, after tapping on the window and gesturing to Little One to "Push the UNLOCK button" on the key fob, I realized what I was doing was futile. She's only 18 months old (15 months corrected), for goodness sake! There she was, laughing and thinking that Mommy was playing a funny game with her. *sigh*
Hubby was doing a saw mill job in a town half an hour away. Ahhhh! I remembered that Hubby usually leaves his key for the van at home. Normally, I'd be upset that he leaves his key all the time. This time, I was thankful!
There you have it. All the drama that could unfold all before 9AM!
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About the Blog Author
City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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14 comments:
hah hah hah hah hah! the logs floating in the bath! i'm surprised you never experienced that with her before; happens here in our house often..
ttyl8erzzzz
Oh god, Maya totally went through a phase at about that age when she would poop in the tub EVERY night. Something about the relaxing warm water maybe. Drove us nuts. We said we didn't know if we had the filthiest tub in town (pooped in every day), or the cleanest tub in town (scrubbed with comet and HOT water every day). I'm glad that's over, esp since she's 14 years old now. ;)
My friend had the key thing happen to her, too. The house was locked up, though, so she had to break a window in the house to get in and get the spare car key. She cut her arm, but thankfully not badly. SCARY. I guess the good advice to pass on to other new moms is, don't let the kids hold the keys. Period.
We all make our mistakes, big and small. We can warn people about the mistakes we made, but they'll make their own. :)
Oh, and as long as I'm boring you and making this all about me me me, can I tell you that my depth perception was so bad at her age, I used to fall down stairs and crash into things ALL the time, and little old ladies used to stop my mom on the street and scold her for beating me. Can you imagine how bad I must have looked to have people butt in back in the 60s? My poor mom. Poor me. I had to wear the ugliest glasses they had in the store.
And still about me...I once had an optometrist tell me that I still had crappy depth perception, but my brain had learned to manage it. Weird, huh? I doubt that's how it is for most people.
And can I say how ADORABLE she looks in her tutu? Totally cute. I have a niece who's really into ballet, and I think she started at about that same age. She's 5 now, I think, and still loving the tutus.
HM:
ACK! Really? That is so gross! LOL! Your kids still do the floating log thing?!?!
J:
HAHAHA! J, you make me laugh! I just LOVE your comments. LOVE them...and you too! :)
Would Maya be embarrassed if she knew we were talking about floating poop in the bathtub?!
Yes! Note to self (and to all parents): DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS PLAY WITH YOUR KEYS...EVER!!!
J, you are never boring! Ever! Keep commenting. The longer the comment, the better! :) XOXO
Lex pooped in the tub the other day :( I agree GROSS, I think her big sister thought it was worse LOL and it was the second time she did it!
AND I have locked not only Lex but also the little guy I babysit in the van before and had to call a tow truck to break in and get them out!
I feel your pain! And Lex has tripped no less than 6 times a day for the last 2 days, so she feels your pain as well ;)
Oh my. I haven't locked my kid in the van yet (though I've stood there chatting with a friend unaware that he was bawling his eyes out inside - apparently Hondas are very soundproof), but the bathtub floaters are a common occurrence. Isn't motherhood grand??
MPM:
Oooooh! I just KNEW there was a reason I love you!! Thank you for your comment! I feel sooooooooooooo much better knowing that I'm not the only one!!! :)
Keely:
Ummm...Yeahhhh! I cannot even describe the anxiety and horror I felt when I realize LO was locked in the van!! Gahhhhh!
Yes, the joys of motherhood! Good fun, isn't it?! :)
Too, too funny! It always is when it's someone else, isn't it? Sorry.
Ellen has done the bathtub deal before, but it wasn't formed enough to float. ('nuff said!) It was disgusting.
I learned not to let her play with the keys only after she'd lost them somewhere in the house. Ha.
Oh, and I have a timeliness issue as well. I am ALWAYS forgetting something. Argh! So frustrating.
Motherhood brings so many surprises! ha.
Calfkeeper:
HA! Thank you sooooooooo much for this! You know, the more I hear other moms experiencing these things, the better I feel! LOL! No, seriously. It *is* good to know I'm not the only one. There are days when I feel like such a dud. LOL!
Hi Chrissy! I have a "sweet" award for you. Stop by and pick it up :)
Kady
http://takeamomswordforit.blogspot.com
Kady:
Thanks so much!!! :) I'm heading over now! :) xoxo
lol!!! E went through a phase of pooping everyday in the tub for about 2-3 months. YUCKY.
M has only done it once.
My friend had that same thing happen to her and she ended up calling the police who broke into her car for her.
My mom always tells me to have a spare set of keys in my purse and I always scoff at her. I think she is right (but don't tell her)
Little M has walked into the footboard of our bed more times than i can count- i'm never sure if the big bruise is a new one or ahealing one! The darn thing is perfect height for her to wonk her forehead! isn't mommyhood grand?
This was an awesome read. I wish I could say motherhood came naturally to me too, but it didn't. Those first few months were crazy for me. But after that I started getting the hang of it & I LOOOOVE being a mom now. And I was told since the age of 15 that I might never be able to get pregnant, so I knew that & accepted that & never felt a great need to have a baby. But God gave us this miracle named Joseph & I am soooo glad that He did.