Yes, becoming a parent reinvents your life, but if you had to make a list of what you’ve learned, how long would it be?
Now that my baby is a toddler, I’m in a new phase of motherhood. Gone are the days of waking up every three hours at night, stealth breastfeeding in public and needing the nursery to look Pinteresting.
In retrospect, keeping a journal about the first year of my life as a mother was one of the best decisions I ever made. I can look back and reflect on how much we’ve both grown.
Here are 20 things I learned in my first year as a mum:
1. The first meal you have after you give birth tastes like it was prepared by an angel and floated down on a cloud just for you. For me, it was crackers and apple juice.
2. It gets easier, then harder, then easier, then harder.
3. You will buy beautiful, artisan baby toys, but the baby would trade them all for an iPhone of her very own.
4. "Date nights" are essential to feeling like a couple and not just a couple of baby slaves.
5. You will Google things you never thought you would Google.
6. If there is any danger in the room -- an outlet, a sharp corner, etc. -- the baby will go there.
7. You will never feel so vulnerable, so in love, so part of life... or so sleepy.
8. Keep paper plates in your home. Tell yourself they are for "tough days," but use them whenever.
9. Make a big batch of food on Sunday to make Monday easier for everyone.
10. When you fail at #9 (and you will), you will subsist on bites of cheese and baby biscuits and feel terrible.
