Things I’ve Learned From Being a Mom

It has been just over five weeks since I went to the hospital and gave birth to my precious Elaine.   It has been a learning experience packed with joy and special moments.  There are a few things that I have learned which I did not expect to be the case in this thing called “mothering.”

1. For baby, it’s about the basics: sleep, food, and a clean diaper.  Everything else is superfluous. 
2. Sleep for Mom is overrated.  I can still (sort of) function on a night that was short a few hours of my normal sleep time.
3. Pacifiers are life-savers.  I had not intended to give Elaine a binky, but it has become my best friend.
4. There are few things that are eternal.  God is eternal.  Life is eternal if you know Him as your Savior.  And the pile of laundry in my house is definitely eternal.  Just when I think it is all caught up, the dirty laundry fairy does something to make the pile reappear!  For a little person, Elaine generates the majority of laundry at this point.  Who would have thought that so many blankets and burp rags could get dirty in one day?  Or in five minutes?
5. There are few things quite as wonderful as taking a nice nap with your newborn laying on your chest.  It’s a great thing!
6. Cloth diapers are wonderful.  They save money in the budget and they are soft against Elaine’s skin.  Only a couple of times have I been grossed out when rinsing a diaper.
7. Babies use a lot of wipes!  I thought I had enough baby wipes stockpiled to last me forever.  Not so.  They’re almost gone.  No kidding.  Maybe I need to learn something else as a mom…how to use fewer wipes!
8. I can do almost anything with one hand while holding the baby in the other hand.  I reach the limit of my one-handed ability in washing dishes and ironing. 
9. It’s okay to rely on Daddy.  I thought I would be able to do it all, but I have had to rely on Ben’s help more than I planned.  He has been absolutely great in stepping up and helping me, even when I have interrupted his studying for the millionth time in an hour.
10. Whoever designed baby clothes with buttons – on the back – didn’t understand what is involved in dressing a baby.