HANG IN THERE MAMA

The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable

This is one funny quote about parenting but I swear to God it’s the naked truth. I mean, look at me in the morning: I give my daughter her milk and switch the telly on so she can watch Peppa or whatever she might be in the mood for. When I notice she is into it I just grab my coffee and sit down. I don’t get to actually hit the sofa or have my first sip of coffee and what do I hear: mummy! mummy! mummy

“What?” I want to scream but I put on my softest voice and I smile and just answer: “Yes baby” Are you ok?” and she just smiles and says she’s fine but rest assured she’ll just call me again because she doesn’t want to watch what she just said she wants to watch; because she doesn’t want to have milk and she doesn’t want the cup next to her, because she wants a cuddle, because she wants to ask me: “what you doing mummy?”, because she wants the light on, because she asked for peas but actually wants egg or who knows why else.

You know what?! This is so much easier comparing to those moments when my daughter was not speaking or oh my God, when she was tiny and I had to guess everything.

My first weeks of motherhood were a bliss and I was naive enough to think I am actually good at it. But when hormones started to run around, when she started to cry so often I thought there was no break in between, when she was only calm in my arms and I could not remember if I washed my hair or eaten… things changed.

RAISING A NEWBORN IS LIKE JUMPING IN A SWIMMING POOL WHEN YOU GOT NO IDEA HOW TO SWIM

I mean, I dived in and breathed underwater. I didn’t realise when I actually learned how to swim. It’s all a whirlwind and if you don’t pay attention to details you are screwed. Things are changing with speedlight and you find yourself in front of this human being who is totally and utterly stuck to you. Don’t lose it.

HANG IN THERE MAMA

There is no telling when your baby will sleep through the night. There is no telling when you will find yourself and learn who you are again. There is no telling if your child is a shitty one by nature or a sweet little bundle of joy (never heard of one but I’m just saying just in case you are the lucky one). You only have to know one thing: HANG IN THERE MAMA! It gets better. I cannot promise it will get easier because this is something I haven’t yet discovered yet but it definitely gets better.

The firsts are best and they melt your heart. You forget for a second there about how frustrated you can become. The first time your baby will smile at you aware of what he/she is doing…. that is heaven. I cannot forget that moment. I will forever cherish it. The first time your baby starts cooing feels like you conquered mount Everest. You’ll feel like your baby is talking to you and you are having a conversation finally and not a monologue. Baby’s first solid food, first giggle, the time he/she sat upright for a full second, that time when they start playing in the bath and get excited over a yellow piece of paper… these are the things you live for so HANG IN THERE MAMA. It gets better.

Don’t get angry, don’t get upset over who fed the baby last or the fact that you haven’t slept in ages. Don’t get frustrated cause you lost so many friends or because you can’t go on a night out like you used to.

This is motherhood. Chaos, vomit, poop, cries, more cries, never ending feedings, mum buns and unwashed hair, anxiety and stress over the smallest things. But IT GETS BETTER

You’ll never be in control. When you think you got it, rest assured your child will go through some changes and it all goes out the window. You’ll pull your hair out and learn another “routine” until that one changes as well.

Just HANG IN THERE MAMA. It gets better. Looking through my thousands of pictured I have saved in my phone I realised I have none with my baby crying but I tell you she cried. A LOT.

You know why? Because those moments did not matter in the end. The victories mattered more. The moments when she was smiling, when she was feeding or sleeping, those times when she just calmed down after hours of uninterrupted screaming – they are my best memories and I will always remember them.