When I first had our eldest son I was pretty sure about stuff. I read all the materials I could get, listened to all the professional advice from my doctor and basically became a slave to the basic ideals held about child birth/rearing/care. Now looking back on that poor and very ignorant woman who thought she had everything so together I wish me now could have told her five things that me then would have really LOVED to have known. Here are my top five things I am so thankful I know now!
1. Relax- Sounds so simple doesn't it? Sounds like such a plain truth, right?! But seriously I was wound so tight with my first child that by number four I was seriously unrecognizable as the same human being. I wish I could relax now more than ever! I mean really is this thing I am freaking about really eternal? Is is really going to last the time? In the grand scheme is it really as big a deal as I think it is? probably not. I hope that I continue to relax, especially in parenting and by relax I don't mean be lax. I mean stop sweating the stupid stuff, go with what works, my baby doesn't have to sleep through the night at 6 weeks, nursing doesn't have to be so strictly regimented. I am not gonna adhere to any new movement with this one, I can't handle the extra energy that it would take, to be perfectly honest! I have a hard enough time trusting my Savior daily and repenting consistently and believing in the blood continually to add anything else to my life right now!
2. Yes time goes by fast, but stop worrying and take time to enjoy it! Take every opportunity! Enjoy being a mom, stop being so set on everything and just snuggle, rest and yes even sniff your baby. Sometimes in the middle of the night when my kids are asleep I will check on them and lay my cheek to their cheeks, just to feel their soft skin against my own. Especially the boys who will one day be as scruffy as my hubs. I love the boys soft and tender faces now and know I will remember their cool drowsy feel against my own. Sounds totally lame, but cut a girl some slack, I am a mom!
3. You can do it! Seriously, we all second guess ourselves, but lets face it, it will take a WHOLE lot for you to personally ruin your child. They are so flexible and even when you majorly screw up, which you will, they still think you are pretty cool and will forgive anything when you ask. So go for it, try hard even if you are gonna tank. Ask lots of questions from real moms and try different things to see what works for you. Don't try and make something work that doesn't and remember every child is different.
4. One child doesn't change your life as much as you would think. I realize that when you have one child you really think it is a totally new dimension, but really life doesn't really begin to change until number 2,3 or 4. I don't know what 5 holds, but I am guessing that now we are pretty much so out of wack that things cannot get any more crazy since adding crazy now will mostly go unnoticed.
5. A baby makes family much more important to you. While in college and early adulthood I took my family for granted and figured I would have lots of time to spend with them, but then you miss them on birthdays and holidays and remember you really LOVE having tons of family around. So don't take your family for granted and try hard to make them a part of your pregnancy and birth.
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