Brain Food

Before Little Man was born, I devoured dozens of child-rearing and baby development books. They preached, advised, and recommended the best ways to raise a well-adjusted, intelligent child.

I thought I was well-prepared, but we all know you can never be truly prepared for motherhood. When Little Man was an infant, I worried about SIDS, tummy time, feeding him formula, and finding a good day care.

As he's grown, my worries have changed to motor-skill and language development. It's brought out a side of me that I'm not really proud of. As I listen to other parents speak about their children, I'm mentally ticking off how Little Man compares. It's brought out a lot of unneccessary worry on my part, and I've recognized this in myself, but it's been hard to stop.

I just started reading Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn -- and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less* by a pair of child psychologists.

This book was the Aha! moment that I needed. Being a teacher, I know how children learn. It just reinforced what I already know, but it was exactly the reassurance that I needed. Little Man is learning plenty just by playing. He doesn't need special classes or flashcards to learn about the world around him.

It's also helped me appreciate his own interests. Little Man loves books and puzzles. He jabbers and gestures. He has buddies at day care and eats and sleeps well. In short, he's a perfectly normal 15-month old boy.

*This is not a paid endorsement. I bought the book on Amazon and am only expressing my personal opinion.

Mommyhood

A rare treat: I had lunch with a friend today at a cozy, beachside restaurant that had absolutely no babies or toddlers in sight. It was nice to have lunch with my friend, even though we talked about our babies pretty much the whole time.

As we sat and chatted after our meal, in walked an acquaintance looking glamorous in a beachy outfit. She was polite and came over to our table to say hello. She told us that she was having lunch with a friend and going to a pool party. A small part of me twinged with jealousy. After all, the only pool parties I'm getting invited to are the inflatable pool and swimmy diaper variety.

As I drove home I thought about how much my life has changed since Little Man was born. "Sleeping in" now means 7:30 or 8 a.m. and the morning does NOT start with a cup of coffee and bagel. Instead, it's a bottle and oatmeal with cut-up fruit.

Weekend getaways involve a full-size SUV full of baby "necessities," including Pack 'n Play, daipers, food, toys, books, clothes...etc. etc. etc. These getaways are decidely less "adult" and more family-oriented. No poolside drinks or bar-hopping for this mommy.

I've lost touch with old friends and gained new ones.

And you know what? I wouldn't change it for the world. Before Little Man was born, I couldn't imagine this kind of love. Now, I couldn't imagine my life without it.

Sweet Sleep

Ah, sleep. I remember those experienced mothers wisely warning me to get as much sleep as I could before Little Man was born. I thought: It can't be worse than this darn pregnancy insomnia. So, so, so wrong.

Little Man started sleeping through the night consistently around 3 months. We were lucky. But, while he's snoozing peacefully in his nursery, I still CAN'T SLEEP. He's seven-months old and I wake at least once a night and tip-toe into his nursery and check on him. Or the crackle of the baby monitor wakes me up. Or I hear a noise. Seriously. If I'd have known that I would never sleep well AGAIN I might have never gotten out of bed while I was pregnant.

It doesn't help that I'm a little, shall we say, anxious and this is my first child. If my husband hadn't been so adamant, Little Man would probably still be sleeping in our room.

Any ideas to help me sleep peacefully? How often do you get up? When can my husband wrest the baby monitor from my anxious hands?