"There is no way to be a perfect mother, but there are a million ways to be a great one."
At our son’s one-year check-up the pediatrician said it was time to make the switch from bottles to sippy or straw cups. I knew this transition was coming and prepared by collecting various cups to have on hand so that we could make the switch around his birthday. How hard could it be?
As a mom of 4, most of the time the waste we produce is the last thing on my mind, but I recently read that the average 8- to 12-year-old kid throws away nearly 67 pounds of lunch trash every year. Yikes! And when we moved homes last year, I cleaned like crazy for the open house and unearthed more tiny knick-knacks in the kids’ rooms than I care to think about. Life is complicated enough, but what uncomplicated changes can I make to reduce all of this unnecessary waste?
There are some things you can only learn from other parents – moms or dads who have been there, done that. One of tiny pieces of advice for parents? Look for sleep sacks that stay zippered (i.e. one that never unlatches) and have a two-way zipper. The last thing you want is to be struggling with the zipper and latch when your baby is exhausted, crying, or rolling over. Read more super simple baby tips.
No matter how you slice it, having a baby is an amazing experience. And no matter how you choose to do it, with or without pain management, your body still does the work. For me, with a fourth baby on the way, I was surprised to find that I suddenly questioned my previous dedication to having my babies naturally. I just wasn’t so sure I wanted to go through—I’ll just say it—the pain of natural childbirth again.
A friend once told me that life has an incredible texture with kids that he didn't recognize as missing without them in his life but fully appreciates and celebrates now that they are. For most of us, predicting what life will be like with kids and your role as a parent is unimaginable until it actually happens. And when it does, everything changes. Here are some of my favorite post-baby observations that we’ve found only too true.
