It’s been more than 4 days, in fact it’s been a year, tonight, since my little girl was born. Inspired by the words of my friend and fellow parent Joel Feder as he blogged about the “10 Life Lessons of Being A Parent” that he has learned as of Day 4 of being a parent, I had to write my top 10 life lessons gleaned from Madeline’s first year. Here goes:
- The day in the hospital when they hand you your new baby, wave goodbye and wish you luck, may be the most terrifying day of your life.
- You can never have enough yoga pants and hoodies.
- Shit happens, literally, and at the worst possible place and time.
- You know what’s best for your baby. Sometimes you need to put down the books and computer and listen to yourself.
- The only thing rarer than a unicorn is being able to shower, do all the laundry and make dinner all in one day.
- You find yourself asking, “Is this poop or chocolate?” more than you’d like to admit.
- You pick out the toys for your baby that you think you’ll have fun playing with because, let’s face it, they have more fun playing with the paper bag it came in.
- After you’ve dealt with a teething baby, you realize something like the zombie apocalypse isn’t anything to worry about, because you’ve already been through worse.
- Don’t freak out every time your baby puts something disgusting in their mouth, just tell yourself they’re building their immune system.
- Being a parent is the hardest job I’ve ever had, but I absolutely love it and wouldn’t change a thing!
Happy Birthday Madeline, I love you to the moon and back!
Kim Walzer is a Professional Mother of two (baby Madeline & Biff the dog) and wife to hubby Matt Walzer, Philanthropy Officer at the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.
