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Post-Partem Depression Forecast: Sunny Skies With a Chance of Clouds

Automatic Reply: "I'm sorry." Wait, delete that. Start over with... "Thank you." You are the mother your child was meant to have. No one else could have had your child. They are you, in the sense that we're all connected. But mothers and children, even more so.  When you feel yourself disconnected from your child, ashamed of how you behaved around them, or frightened about a future without them, remember, your child was meant to come from you.  We can't claim total ownership or control over our children. They are their own beings. They have their own feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences. Usually all of things happen without much influence from the parents.  But the wonderful thing about being a parent is you get to witness it all first hand.  This may be overwhelming. That's okay.  You're upset. That's okay. It's also okay for them to be upset.  Remember, your journey with your child is very different than their journey with you. 
Recent posts

How Awesome You Are

You may not feel awesome when... You're covered in gurp. You haven't had a full night's sleep in over a year. You didn't shower today. You have to suck baby boogers every day. But, you are awesome, even if you're not in your most glamorous moment. Women in general, and mothers, especially, we are capable of incredible feats! Just because one woman can go on a daily run, but you instead go on a daily coffee run - that doesn't make you less awesome. You know that, right? Just because another mother cooks three homemade meals every day, but you can only manage one, that doesn't make you less awesome. Stop comparing. Start appreciating yourself. So, maybe you don't run every day, but maybe you come up with fun crafts for your kids. Maybe you don't cook, but you come up with creative ways to make salads. So many salads... Technically chips and salsa are a salad, right? ... right? Maybe you're not a career person, but you always mana

A Little Bit of Learning Goes a Long Way

While planning what to write next, I realized how entrenched, and often unquestioned, motherhood ideals are. My thoughts of what a mother is "supposed" to be. Are those my own thoughts? Is that who I am as a mother? This external judgement criteria - where is it coming from? I was in the doctor's office when my son was a couple of weeks old. The doctor asked me how I was doing. I had to be honest. I was stressed - and not because of my son. He was just a baby being a baby with his needs and nothing more. I was stressed because I was looking for answers from others, and for validation that I was a good mother. But everything I read or heard was a critique. I realized that no matter what I did, according to someone, it wasn't enough according to someone else. I told her, "I just want to be his mother! I don't care about all the rules I'm supposed to follow. I just want him to know that I love him and be the best mother I can be. But there are so many ru

Feel the Motherhood. Embrace the Motherhood. Be the Motherhood.

Well, I did it. I birthed a child. This was after most of my life, assuming I would never marry, let alone ever have a child of my own. I assumed I would be an adoptive single mother (and that would be awesome!). I had it all planned out. Then I met my husband, and... when you open yourself up to another person, you discover things about yourself you didn't know. Every time you think you're done growing, life says, "Uh-uh, you've got more to learn, honey. Don't start staring at the ground yet!" Sometimes it is people that help you grow. Sometimes it's just a quiet walk by yourself. This latest iteration of my own growth comes in the form of motherhood. And this blog is sharing what I've learned. There are a gazillion blogs, books, websites, etc. of HOW to be a mother. Usually, they include long lists of things to DO ( eg. Plan your meals weeks in advance, go running, take a shower daily, feed baby every two hours, buy this product, shun these p