by Christian Parker-Little
Before becoming a mom I was a pretty carefree person only having my self to care for.
I was on cloud 9 about to get married and looked forward to my new life as a wife. After becoming a young wife there was some adjusting but I quickly fell into step and got used to my daily wife duties. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed because it was what my husband and I wanted so bad. In fact we received the news of my pregnancy the day we went to get our marriage license.
It hit me that I was a mother after the birth of my son. He was so tiny and cute but I knew that my life would never be the same. This little person was all mine and I had to care for him—it was like having two of myself. I had a living breathing shadow. Everything I did for myself I had to do for him, but I had to do it first and I had to do it better. If I were going to make myself breakfast I had to make his breakfast first and not just a piece of toast that I would make myself but a nutritious breakfast. When I went to take a shower he needed a bath first and I needed to supervise him in the tub (of course) before tending to my needs.
When I was getting ready to go out I had to get his stuff together first: he needed snacks, hand wipes, juice boxes and maybe a toy to keep him occupied. If I needed to run into a store and my husband wasn’t there to keep an eye on him I needed to make sure he had his nap and that I got in and out as quickly as possible to keep him from having a meltdown in the store. He was my little shadow and wherever I went most times he was right there.
I had to turn my whole life around to accommodate him; it wasn’t just about me anymore. Most importantly I had to watch the way I interacted with others around him especially my husband because he watched so closely. To this day he absorbs so much and my job is to make sure that the majority of it is positive. That means watching what I say and what I do in his presence and I admit it still takes some getting used to. Almost three years into motherhood I have to say the changes have been big but I gladly made them and still continue to make them. I wanted to be a mom and I was blessed to be able to become one. It’s all in a day’s work to care for my little one and I’m so happy it’s becoming second nature now. My first thought in the morning is of my son and what I need to get up and do for him. That’s not to say that I sacrifice my own well being it just means that I’m a mom. And I understand all that that entails.
This is so true. Just seconds after giving birth to my daughter, I said to myself, oh crap, I can’t rest..I have someone else to take care of. Pregnancy was a great idea, but it didn’t really sink in until I held her in my arms.