Enjoy the Present

I can't tell you how much it bugs me when I hear another mom say, "I can't wait until my baby is able to ________."  Sometimes they are referring to my slightly older baby who just happens to have a few more skills because she's older.  I tend respond with something like "Enjoy the stage you're in now.  It's going to go by way too fast.  One day you may miss the stage you're in right now.  I know that at times I miss the stage you're in."

I was the mom who thought my baby was growing up way to fast, when she was 1 week old!  I was the mom who cried when she turned 1 month old because she was growing up way too fast.  I was the mom who was upset when someone told me that she no longer looked like a newborn.  I had to face the music, time was not going to slow down for me.

I just can't believe how quickly a baby can change between week to week.  One week they have no idea where their hand is, the next week they can find their hand.  One week they want to cuddle in close and could snuggle with you through an entire movie.  The next week they want nothing to do with cuddling and want you down on the floor playing with them.  One week they can play by themselves on the living room floor while you are making supper (FYI...we have an open concept house, so the living room, dining room & kitchen are one huge room).  The next week they are crawling and hunting you down as you try to go to the bathroom in peace.

Each stage goes by so fast, my advice is enjoy it.  Don't wish it away.  Yeah, you maybe excited and can't wait until she laughs for the first time or eats solid foods or sits up by herself.  But don't miss out on the neat things your baby is doing right now at this very moment.  Don't be wishing for that moment when your baby can entertain herself, because you could be missing out on your baby's new discovery of the noise a rattle can make when she shakes it.

I remember a sermon I heard years ago when I was in college.  It was about enjoying the present.  I remember the priest telling us "Don't spend your time wishing for the future because you could be missing out on something important that God has in store for you right now.  God purposely placed you where you're at today because He has a purpose for you.  Don't miss out on the things God has for you right now because you're wishing for things that God may not give to you in the future."

Enjoy every moment with your baby.  It doesn't matter if they're 1 week old, 1 year old or 50 years old.  It's ok to mourn the past, but don't let it ruin the present.  Sure, I miss the times when my baby wanted to cuddle with me on the couch, but I'm enjoying the crawling and walking stage now too.  Each stage is special.  Don't miss the blessings God is giving to you right now because you can't wait for the future.

Magical World of Bathland

I love being a mom and I love watching my baby learn.  Her favorite time is bath time.  Every morning we travel to the Magical World of Bathland where she splashes around.  We have Daddy Duck, Mommy Duck and Baby Duck.  We set the duck on the edge of her baby tub and the ducks "jump" into the water.  At first my baby wasn't sure what to do when I set a duck on the ledge and tell the ducky to jump.  Now, when you set the duck on the ledge she knows exactly how push the ducky into the water to make the ducky "jump."  At the end of our splash time we have to give each ducky a kiss as we put them away.

As time goes on we've been playing new games with the ducks.  Earlier this week I had Mommy Duck giving Baby Duck kisses.  This morning I was amazed when my baby had Baby Duck give Mommy Duck kisses.  It's not like the other games we play with the ducks where we've played them over and over.  It was just a one day time a couple days ago. 

Another favorite game my baby loves is peek-a-boo.  We've been playing peek-a-boo with her since she was only a couple weeks old.  Earlier this month during one of our trips to the Magical World of Bathland, my baby took the wash cloth from me and started playing peek-a-boo with her ducks.  It was so cute!  Most days she wants the wash cloth from me so she can play peek-a-boo with her ducks.  If you try to take the wash cloth away so you can wash her, she gets mad at times. 

I love watching my little girl learn.  It's so much fun.  It's amazing what she picks up and how fast she learns.  I think I enjoy visiting Magical World of Bathland just as much as my baby.

Why I'm not meant to be a Stay-at-Home Mom

I am very fortunate to have a job that granted me 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.  Of course, I had to use my sick leave that I had accumulated over the past 4 years at my job, but I had was able to take the full 12 weeks.  When it was time for me to return to work, I started second guessing my choice to be a working mom.  I loved my baby and the thought of not spending every day with her bothered me.  I would pray and ask God if my husband & I made the right decision about me returning to work.  I felt like I was a horrible mother by being a working mom.  Luckily, to help with the transition back to work my job was willing to allow me to work part time.  However, my anxiety about being a working mom increased when I would drop my child off at daycare.  I was not comfortable with the original daycare we chose and thought that I was making the biggest mistake in my life by returning to work.  Within two weeks of returning to work, we switched daycares.  Once we switched, I started to become more and more comfortable with the idea of being a working mom

I got to spend the past week with my baby.  Now that our week together is coming to an end I've realized I'm not the stay-at-home type.  And my baby is not the stay-at-home type either.  By the end of the week, we'd go out to the park and you could tell that she really wanted to play with the other kids, something she didn't get to do when it was just mommy and her.  I realized that my baby really needs and desires to interact with people her own age as much as I need to interact with people my own age. 

I highly respect the mom's who were called to be stay-at-home mothers.  God has truly given them a gift.  However after this week, I am more confident in the fact that God has not called me to be a stay-at-home mom (for the time being).  God created everyone to be different and He's created me to be a working mom and there's nothing wrong with that.  Maybe in the future I will be a stay-at-home mom, but right now I'm happy and content with being a working mom.