Baby Blog

My baby boy has gone. He has been replaced with a running, squealing, climbing, screaming boy in a baby’s body. If he demands one more thing today I think I’ll lock myself in the bathroom. I just removed him from the kitchen where he was standing in the middle of the dining table demanding one of the framed paintings off the wall. Who is this pod person and when is my darling baby coming back?

I guess he’s not. There are no do-overs in parenthood.  Every day that passes your baby gets older, bigger, more aware, more mobile and more vocal. It’s a thrill to watch your child grow but it’s also sad. Every time I talk to my fellow first time moms we complain about just how fast things are passing us by, how quick the babies are growing and how time flies when you are a mom.

I think before your baby actually arrives you have a very different perception of parenthood. There is the idea that it is almost a prison sentence, a long drawn out 18 years where you can’t be selfish, go out on the town o r act irresponsibly. What a joke that is. It seems to go by so fast. I know by the time I am an old wise woman rocking on the porch that I’ll remember this time in my life as though it happened in the blink of an eye.

So what can you do? Well, nothing really. No parent has the ability to freeze time (unless of course in those moments when you are so exhausted you feel frozen to the spot unable to function). Enjoy every moment. Well… between the potty accidents and the exploratory head bumps that’s pushing it a little. Try and do the best you can with the time you’ve got?

Yup. That seems to make the most sense.

Childhood should be filled with structure to encourage self reliance and a sense of security. Babies should have happy parents or at least interested parents there always try to encourage them, nourish them and teach them how to grow. And those times between eating and sleeping? Well they should be filled with as many happy memories you can make in the time and budget you have to work with.

Because before we know it we’ll be looking back on these baby years wondering where they went to.