10 things I've learned since I became a Mom

I literally know 35+ women who are currently pregnant, many of whom are pregnant with their first.  Since I'm the first of many of my friends to have a baby, they frequently have turned to me for advice which I'm happy to share.  As I prepare for my second baby, I took a few minutes to think about some of the most practical, useful things I've learned since I became a mom.  Here's my top 10 list, although I'm sure I left things off the list - so if you have things to add, jump in and leave your thoughts!

10.  NEVER wake a sleeping baby.  Every time I woke a sleeping baby (or toddler), I regretted it! 

9.    Only buy white socks.  I bought many different colors/patterns of cute socks with Sam and we inevitably lost 1 sock from about 90% of these pairs - making the remaining sock completely useless.  Babies and toddlers love to take their socks off and throw them places (or even hide them).  White  (or one color) socks are the way to go!

8.    Invest in batteries.  Costco (my favorite store on the planet) has great prices on batteries.  EVERY children's toy lights up, makes noise, vibrates, shakes, etc - and they all require 27 batteries each.   Before we had Sam, we never used batteries for anything.  Now, we go through a ton of batteries, it's ridiculous. 

7.    Dogs are invaluable with toddlers.  Our dog Lucy has many many roles in our house.  She is the vacuum cleaner and regularly eats all of the food that Sam graciously throws to the ground under his highchair.  She is the entertainer - we regularly use her to distract him from getting into something.  She is the calmer - Sam can be crying hysterically and miserable, but lights up as soon as he sees the dog.  Dogs are WONDERFUL (even though Lucy isn't overly in love with Sam...as you may have read in my previous post about Life with Lucy the Dog).

6.    Moms help other Moms.  I can't even count the number of times I've been out somewhere with Sam and another Mom is in need of a wipe, diaper, band-aid, snack, etc.  I have frequently given wipes and other such items to complete strangers.  And there have been times when I have needed something for Sam, and another Mom opens up her diaper bag to me as well.  Moms must stick together!  The best advice I've received about raising my child has been from other moms - there are so many things you can't learn from reading a book.  When Sam was born, I was so unsure of how tight his diaper needed to be, how to cut his nails, etc - but other moms showed me what to do and taught me some invaluable lessons. 

5.   Expect the unexpected.   Toddlers are most likely to spill something, break something, poop, or throw a tantrum in the 30 seconds right before you are about to get in the car to go somewhere and will cause you to be late.  Here's a classic example from one of my Top 5 Worst Mommy Moments

4.  Once you figure something out, your child will change and you have to learn something new.  The first child can be such a challenge because you really have no idea what you're doing and once you begin to figure it out, it changes.  For example, it takes months to really perfect the skill of nursing - and as soon as you establish a good nursing routine, you have to start to introduce baby food.  It then takes a while for your baby to get the hang of eating pureed carrots from a spoon, but once he figures it out - BAM, let's introduce finger food.  Ok, we got the hang of finger food, we're in a good groove - BAM, start weaning them off the bottle and off baby food so he's only eating table food.  It goes on and on and on...

 3. You will never sleep the same way you did before you had kids.  I LOVE sleeping.  Before Sam, we would sleep until 10 or 11am on the weekends and sometimes even take naps in the afternoon.  I was an incredibly heavy sleeper and sometimes slept through my alarm.  My best advice to pregnant friends is to SLEEP as much as they can!  Now, I can't sleep past 8am even if I'm away on vacation without Sam.  I never understood the idea of an "internal alarm clock" but now I do.  I can't even tell you the last time I set my alarm clock - I don't even use it any more.  Sam is always up between 630-7am, occasionally he sleeps as late as 730am.  We recently began to turn the monitor off at night, but I still wake up constantly thinking that I heard him crying.  I HATE that I've become such a light sleeper.  It sucks.   Sam has slept through the night since he was 4 months old, he's a terrific sleeper - but my sleep may never be the same again.  I am still in denial that we are about to begin the sleepless nights of life with a newborn again.

2.     You know your child better than anyone else, always listen to the voice inside your head.  People love to give unsolicited advice about everything.  I'll never forget the woman in a store who criticized me for dressing Sam in two unmatching socks (see number 9 above).  Or the woman who saw me giving Sam a bottle and said "you know, breast is best" (to which I responded, well, good thing this is breastmilk in the bottle - and hello, do I know you?).  I always appreciate helpful advice from friends, but at the end of the day, I remember that I know my child better than anyone.  I know when to ask for help and have learned that when in doubt about a medical condition, it is better to err on the safeside and take him to the doctor.  The worst thing that can happen is that the doctor tells me that everything is fine - I'd much rather that than something bad happening to my child (here's my horror story from Sam's ER visit and 4 day stay in the hospital in July 2010 from a virus)

1.  There is no sweeter sound than hearing your child say "Mommy."  Being a mom is probably the hardest thing I've ever done - and also the most wonderful.  It is challenging and exhausting.  It is also rewarding, gratifying, and heart-warming.  I always knew that you loved your kids, but I never knew that you also fell in love with them.