Things I Wish I'd Known as a New Mom

There aren't a lot of things I regret about my parenting experience. In fact, I'm happy with the decisions I've made. But when I think about the time my son was a newborn, I can only remember being overwhelmed by how demanding motherhood is. If I could go back in time, I may have gone a little easier on myself as a new mom.

The new mom phase is as exhausting as it is, without having to burden yourself with endless worries. But of course, that's exactly what we do! I know this is what happens to most new mothers. Can't blame them - they are sleep deprived, and have upon them the responsibility of raising a helpless human being.

If there is anything I could do differently when I became a mom, here are some of the things I would tell myself:

You can leave the baby alone for a few minutes. I felt that I had to entertain my baby every second he was awake.

I felt that if he didn't see me for a few minutes, he would feel neglected, and that would make me a bad mother. This was a very impractical of me, of course, because ordinary things like using the washroom and having food became difficult. I shouldn't have felt guilty about putting him down, or maybe I should have tried babywearing. What happened instead is that I barely had any time to myself for the most basic tasks.

You don't need to have a spotless house.

I'm the kind of person who hates clutter, so I worried constantly about having a clean house. Obviously, that was far from possible with a newborn. I wish I had realized that there would come in time where I could clean the house to my heart's content, but right then I just needed to focus on my baby, who was growing up fast.

More at sandinmytoes.tk.