Monday, November 10, 2014

Mom to Mom

I get all types of parents in my office. I get the moms with the kids that sit quietly, the moms with the screaming kids, dad's that tried really hard on their daughters hair and then the parents that yell at their misbehaving kids the whole time.  Mom's judge, I've written about it before and probably will again. We are all guilty of it but Friday this one hit me a little bit different.

A mom came in solo with her 2 kiddos, I'm guessing about 4 and 2. She walked in sat down and apologized for being a day late meeting with me; no problem life happens, we understand, no harm done. Then she started apologizing for her kids being dirty, they had just come from the barn where her daughter takes riding lessons. After looking closely I could see a bit of hay here and some dirt under the little boys nails. I let her know it was no problem and then asked the little girl all about it, she chatted my ear off about horses and her new found love. A little girl after my own heart and she couldn't stop fawning over every second of her weekly adventures. Meanwhile mom is trying to brush off and shake off the very minimal dust on her son. She looks at me again and says, "I should have done this outside, I'm so sorry, it makes me feel better saying it out loud because I know people judge."

Woah, hold the phone lady. I am not judging you for letting your kids be kids, you took them to a barn and your two year old got dirty? YES! Thank you for letting him explore, get dirty and be a child. I'm sure he had a blast playing in the fine dirt. I know if I was him I would have made little trails and tracks with pieces of hay and then found a couple rocks to "drive" around them. You are a fantastic mom for letting your child come in dirty. Dirty kids are happy kids, their imaginations are wild and they are full of life. They came in here with smiles and stories and that will top a little bit of dirt and hay any day. I let her know it didn't bother me one bit and that it was great.

When we finished up and she left I was happy and sad for her all at once. She isn't letting herself bask in the glory of being the coolest mom ever but instead she's worried about everyone else judging her because her son's hoodie is a little dusty.

So mom with the dirty kids because you left them be kids, you rock. You are the coolest mom ever. Tell anyone with a snotty look or a glare to kick rocks. You win at being a parent. Your kids are happier, their minds are rich and they have been to places that some will never experience. Your head should be high and your heart should be full, never apologize for being awesome.

Love,

Jess

Thursday, November 6, 2014

So many babies!

The beginning of 2014 was cold, heck, NC even had snow days! I'm going to say that's where all of these babies are coming from. BABIES EVERYWHERE! I have friends/family all over the country that are currently hugging a newborn or will be in the next month.

This coming from me may seem really left field but I'm excited to hold one. Rule of thumb for this girl is, if it's not yours don't touch it. I have had this crazy fear of dropping someone's baby, so I've steered clear of all children that could not sit on their own.  My bff has a great picture of me holding K when she was hours old. I was 10 days from popping and I had been avoiding holding this baby for the whole 2 hours I had been in that room, then BAM! Someone hands me the baby, I held her for about a minute before I gladly passed her off on someone else. Everyone thinks it a funny-haha until the baby gets dropped because I have to sneeze or something. This does not apply to my own child(ren) if I drop them accidentally then the fuck up is on me. I would still feel awful of course but it's just different breaking something that doesn't belong to you. Side Note: I never dropped E.

It's been 6 1/2 years since I had a newborn, I remember a lot of puke (yay acid reflux) and a lot of days just sitting for hours rocking a sweet baby.

Miss E at about a month old

Some pointers:
  1. You can never have too many onesies or jammies. 
  2. Take a shower every day to keep yourself sane. 
  3. DO NOT wake your baby unless it's by doctors orders, sleep is good. 
  4. Get out of the house (this applies to the not super newborns).
  5. Your baby, your rules. If crazy Aunt Betty thinks she needs to be at your house waiting for you to get home from the hospital you get to tell her no. You get to tell everybody no. Your baby, your rules.
  6. Do not listen to other's. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. You are going to do what's best for your baby and your family. It doesn't matter how your baby eats, where your baby sleeps or how long your baby is held during the day. Does it work for you? Then you do that and tell everyone else to go pound sand.
  7. You just had a baby, you'll be jealous of the women that can fit back in their pre-preg jeans, but if you can't, girl you rock those yoga pants until you can and want to get back into your other clothes. No pressure, you just created a life, it's all on your time. 
  8. If you think there is something wrong, go to as many doctors as you need to until you are satisfied. I spent a month with an angry acid filled baby until I switched doctors and all was well. Mom knows her baby the best. 

So mommy's and daddy's to be, I am sending you wishes of sleep filled nights, happy babies and easy and healthy deliveries!

Love,

Jess

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

How I failed October's Wallet Watch

The first two weeks I did great! After that it went to hell in a hand basket faster than a squirrel on speed.  I did not pass go and I did not collect $100.

Coffee in the mornings in my nemesis. I run late to get E to school on time so I rush out of the house but then I have 45 minutes in my 10 minute commute to get to work so I stop at Starbucks or DD. 

BAD JESS!

Wanna know what? I did it again this morning. I really need to be better. Since I don't spend on anything else that isn't worthwhile or needed I'm going to try limiting myself to 2x a week and see how that works. Ween myself off slowly.

Did anybody else participate? How did you do?


Love,
Jess


Monday, November 3, 2014

Except for Monday.....

This fatigue that has been plaguing me for the last couple of weeks needs to be gone. There are not enough naps or gallons of coffee it seems. I tried lining up my REM cycles the last couple of nights but that's hasn't made a difference either. OVER IT!

In other news, we attended 2 birthday parties for this weekend and yesterday's was at the roller skating rink. E has never skated before and after getting there and getting her laced up I feel like a small failure. I used to live at the skating rink, every Friday and Saturday night and every birthday party was there. She did pretty well and I had to drag her away at the end of the night. 

Did you know roller skating rinks still smell like they did in the 90s?
Thousands of sweaty kid feet maybe? It was definitely a memory snagger.
Trick or Treating was also a success, my little witch spent about an hour roaming around before she finally had enough. 

All in all a decent pretty good weekend.

I hope your week treats you well!

Love,

Jess