So we decided to go thru the foot-high pile of parenting magazines - literally, a foot high. I thought, after two boys 14 & 12, that I knew everything there was to know. I've learned that you can buy diapers on Amazon.com, I CAN make meatloaf, and it's now ok to ignore a temper tantrum.
Really, I forgot how hard it was to take care of a newborn, I don't know how I did it working full-time the first two times around. I owe a lot to my mom, I've always known that, but now after spending day after day of getting puked and pooped on, going days without showers and nights too tired to get it over with, I really know what its like. But when I was working, I didn't get to enjoy the coos they make when they are fully awake, the way they stare at your face when they're eating, and the feeling that you get when they are crying and instantly calm down when you come into the bedroom when you come and get them. I did experience some of that before, but I didn't realize how you need to relish it, to put your exhaustion aside and memorize every fold on their tubby bodies, because it really does go by so fast. Doesn't anyone mention that?
I can only say that I had a few of those moments with Doug early on. Then more children, more diapers, more crying, more messes..........and my perspective was lost. I think that not being such young Moms help with that now. The more we begin to understand our own mortality and how quickly our life passes by, the more we realize how we need to treasure EVERY moment. EVEN the sleepless, ones.
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