This is Not the New Normal
As I am approaching the one year mark with Cedric it has caused me to review this last year and what it is like adding a baby to a family. After he was born I cried, because I felt like I was letting Keaton watch too much TV. We were eating too many easy meals and not enough vegetables. I wondered if I would ever have time to exercise again. I’m always amazed when I look back and see that none of that was our new normal.
Not fitting in my clothes wasn’t my new normal.
Not being able to shower wasn’t my new normal.
Going to bed at 7pm wasn’t my new normal.
Starving at night wasn’t my new normal.
Never having time for my devotions wasn’t my new normal.
Having to breastfeed during every church service wasn’t my new normal.
Letting Keaton play apps, so I could nurse the baby wasn’t our new normal.
Not having time to get out was not my new normal.
Temporary Arrangements
At the moment all these things seemed permanent. I’m so grateful for older moms who told me that the time their child watched the most tv was between the first and second child transition. The mom who told me not to try to plant a garden that year was a lifesaver. I’m grateful for the woman who told me that it wasn’t wrong to lay on the couch exhausted, because I was breastfeeding and hormonal.
Hope for the New Mom
It’s so cool to look back and see how much changed after the first 3 weeks, your body has healed a birth. How much better it got after 3 months, hello a bit more sleep. Comparatively, I felt like I was flying after 9 months, working out no longer seemed as exhausting.
Things are different now than they were with one kid, I’m certainly a lot busier than I thought I would be. But we have settled into our new normal. I find healthy habits are less difficult to engage with than I thought they would be last year. We have planted a garden, and are able to have guests over. The house gets torn apart so much faster with two than it did with one, but Keaton’s getting pretty good at helping out.
If you’re a new mom, sitting there smelling sour with spit-up, unable to get out and see friends because of nap times. If you are wondering if you will ever feel awake again. You wonder if your house will ever look like a home again. It will. It may not become perfect today, tomorrow or next month, but this phase is far from your new forever.
