Moms Unfiltered

1. Do not 🅴🆅🅴🆁 question your Mom gut when it comes to your child. If your Mom gut is telling you something is wrong with your child, do not hesitate to take them into the walk-in. If your Mom gut is telling you a situation is unsafe, get the hell out of there & don’t even think twice about it. Are there moments when you’re going to be wrong? Eh. Maybe. But will you ever regret putting your child’s wellbeing/best interest first? ᴀʙsᴏʟᴜᴛᴇʟʏ ɴᴏᴛ!
2. Every baby is different… therefore every parenting style is going to be different. What you’re doing to need to do for your colicky baby, to keep yourself sane (i.e. laying them down in their crib & walking out of their room for 5 minutes to just let both of you cry in your own space) might be seen as “mean” by another Mom whose baby is perfect & hasn’t shed a tear in their 2 perfect months alive. I personally am not the Mom who goes running across the room when my son bumps his head on the table, & I’ll be damned if I let anyone try & tell me I’m a bad Mom because of it.
3. Your mental health comes ꜰɪʀsᴛ & by putting your mental health first, that is essentially putting your child/children first because without a happy healthy Mom, you can’t have a happy healthy baby.
4. “Sleep when baby sleeps” is by far the absolute worst advice anyone can ever give you as a brand new Mom. When my newborn slept, I watched his precious chest move up & down as he slept… I worried about every little noise he made & every second of the day that remained before we would start our day all over again… I stared in amazement wondering how I got lucky enough to be this little boy’s Mama… & if I were to close my eyes after I did all of those things, my sweet little boy most definitely woke up the second my eyes shut.
5. Technology is a tool, not the devil. As I write this in fact, I have Paw Patrol on the tv. Technology allows you to connect with family who don’t live near you whether it be posting pictures on social media or facetiming while little man is in the bathtub. & if technology gives you a 10 minute break & that’s what you need to stay sane, then turn on the damn tv. I agree there’s an importance to limiting screen time, but the fact that some Moms will categorize others as “bad Moms” because of them using technology as a tool, is absolutely ridiculous.
6. When you have a baby, your priorities shift. This can look differently for everyone but all of a sudden making plans after work isn’t as important – not when that 5:00-8:00pm window is really the only quality time you get to spend with your child in a 24hr period. & even during that time, there’s a mealtime, a bath routine & whatever else is part of your scheduled routine – but regardless, it’s more important than grabbing drinks. & anyone in your life that’s worth keeping around, will stick around, even if you do blow them off last minute.
7. Let’s be real, since the moment you found out you were pregnant, your body hasn’t been just yours anymore, but now that your little human is a more active & really doesn’t stay still whatsoever, your body is now a jungle gym. Zac always gives me grief that I bruise so easily – it’s like I’m a delicate fruit – but I really would not be surprised if at my next yearly visit, my primary care seriously questioned if I felt safe at home. Sure I feel safe, but my body is a freaken jungle gym that belongs to a crazy constantly moving 11 month old, thus resulting in excessive bruises…. literally everywhere. & you know what? Someday I’m going to miss him tackling me on the ground, stepping all over me & clawing me to climb up my body. R͟e͟f͟e͟r͟r͟i͟n͟g͟ ͟b͟a͟c͟k͟ ͟t͟o͟ ͟a͟ ͟p͟r͟e͟v͟i͟o͟u͟s͟ ͟p͟o͟s͟t͟: You can love & hate something at the same time 😉
8. Sucking your baby’s snot/boogers once sounded like the absolute grossest most nasty thing in the world & I was truly convinced I would never go down that road. At 11 months postpartum I’m here to tell you that it is the absolute greatest discovery & an absolute life saver when you have a stuffed up babe who can’t breathe out of their itty bitty nose. Just brush you pride off & 🅓🅞 🅣🅗🅔 🅓🅐🅜🅝 🅣🅗🅘🅝🅖.
9. The first year of your child’s life is literally a ᴄᴏɴsᴛᴀɴᴛ guessing game – or at least until they can somewhat communicate their wants/needs. 75% of the time you honestly have not a clue in the world what they need. Are they crying because they need a diaper change? Nope, didn’t help. Are they hungry? Nope, still crying. Are they tired? Nope, either they refused to nap or they did nap & yet they’re still crying. Are they getting a tooth? I don’t know, they freaked out when I tried getting in their mouth. Are they sick? No fever, not stuffed up, not coughing. & then the puppy comes racing in the room & barks playful at your child & they instantly stop crying, start laughing & the rest of the day is beautiful….. & now you’re sitting there questioning everything you thought you knew about parenting LOL! Iᴛ’s ᴀʟʟ ᴀ ғʀᴇᴀᴋᴇɴ ɢᴜᴇssɪɴɢ ɢᴀᴍᴇ.
10. 𝕊ℕ𝔸ℂ𝕂𝕊. Always have snacks with you. When you’re at home, when you’re traveling, when you go to Grandma’s, when you go for a walk to the mailbox…. No matter where you go, no matter how long you’ll be there, just pack the snacks. Having too many with you (home or on the go) is literally not a thing at all. Snacks have saved us more times than I can even count. & know that these don’t have to be fancy, homemade, gourmet snacks … taking a trick out of Grandma C’s book here… cheerios. Have a container of cheerios ALWAYS with you & you can’t go wrong.
11. & finally, being a Mom is by far the hardest but most rewarding job I will ever have. In these short 11 months, I have never felt more challenged, more emotional, more worried & frankly more doubtful of myself… but look at this kid!! He’s absolutely perfect – everything we needed & so much more. This job will continue to be a challenge. This job will continue to be emotional, I’ll worry & I’ll definitely continue to doubt myself, but when I stop & look at him sitting there flipping through his book & giggling, I’m reminded just👏🏼 how👏🏼 freaken👏🏼 lucky👏🏼 we👏🏼 are.👏🏼

Until next time,

𝑻𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝑶𝑼𝑻✌️