Maybe a better title for this would be, "what no one ever believes about being a Mom." Now, I really do understand why no one believes this stuff- if they did there would be a lot of women seriously rethinking their desire to have babies. You have to think that it's going to be all wonderful and cuddles and that you'll never regret your decision a day in your life. And, where that first part may not be anywhere close to the truth. The truth is that you will never regret your decision. Being a mom is worth all the nitty gritty that you have to go through!! There are some truths, about being a Mom, that I have picked up in the 3 months that I have been a Mom and for each one, I'm sure there will be another one that I'll pick up in the next 3 months! (apparently motherhood is a like that dream you have when you show up to class in your slippers and realize that the final is today, except that you never studied and you've never been to class before...but, the dream never finishes and you never find out how you did on the test- you just live in that perpetual state of panic and worry!) So, here's to the truths I've learned about being a mother:
1) Stretch marks are real!! They never go away!! They are your friend for life!! It's probably a good thing that you don't know this before you have babies, because who would really want to believe that in a few months there would be awful purple lines going all the way accross your butt, thighs, stomach, legs...(do I need to mention anymore places??) The worst part is that you see all these commercials for stretch mark reducing creams and you think- Oh, that poor thing that has those...good thing I never will, only to realize that a few years later, you're looking at your own body thinking- oh you poor thing too bad I have those! (but you don't even have enough free time to go to the store and try all those advertised creams, so you tell yourself that they wouldn't work anyways) :)
2) Weight loss is inevitable. Now I know that we all see those perfect women who are size 2, 1, or (God forbid) even size 0 after having their children, but are they even real?? Who does that honestly happen to? (definitely not any of my friends, 'cause even if it did we wouldn't be friends for long!! ;)) Before I had Hailey I was certain that I would watch my weight the whole pregnancy and I would do situps after I had my baby and work hard to get back to my pre-pregnancy body! Boy was I dissilusioned. I had no idea that I would be so hungry and devour everything in sight for 9 months straight and then when the baby finally came I would be so tired that I would think of the extra fat as more of a close friend that I really wouldn't want to be without, anyways. (plus, all husbands like the extra padding, right??)
3) Regardless if the kid is yours or not, baby spit up and poopy diapers are never fun to deal with. So many people said to me, "oh, it's different when it's yours" But, I'm here to tell you that the only difference is that if I don't clean it up no one will! (hmmm...is that what they were getting at all along...)
4) No matter how much you love your kid, naptime will always be a welcome respite in your day. It's so wonderful to just put your sleeping baby down in a crib, walk away and think "ahhh, now what will I do with the next hour of time!" Good thing I never have to think about that- I'm always running here, running there, trying to get everything done so that I can cram a little bit of time in to sit at the computer!
The biggest thing that no one ever told me about being a Mom is
5) Every morning you will sit and pray that God would grant you more wisdom, more patience, more love, more grace and just basically that He would make you more like the one person that you swore you'd never be like- your Mom! And, you will pray that in 26 years your daughter will be praying the same thing, so that you, too, can earn a "job well done!"
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