Over at "Workings of the Mind" a new mom asks, "Is it just me?" She wonders whether every new mother has a hard time getting anything done. Should I tell her?
There are approximately seven weeks left before I am like a new mom again, home with an infant, unbathed and still in pajamas at 4 in the afternoon. My three older children will be fed up with pizza delivery, my husband will ask whether I made it to the bank, have I seen his shoes, do I want to see The Lord of the Rings Trilogy tonight etc... I will be feeble, smelly, dazzled by my new child and yet not quite sure how she got here.
I have heard of some women with 6 months of healthy and delicious dinners frozen and labeled in their clean kitchens. They bathe their infants daily, and drive the other children to soccer and oboe lessons. They shower, go to church, and keep scrapbooks detailing every Special Moment. Myth? Urban Legend? Sick fantasy perpetuated by Gerbers and Pampers Supreme?
When you are home alone with only one baby, no teenagers or toddlers, my suggestion is that you revel in the exhausting bliss of accomplishing "nothing" but caring for your infant. Use paper plates, be proud of clean clothes (forget hanging, folding, ironing). This time is counted in weeks and it will slip by too soon, believe it or not. Don't worry. Don't panic. It's pointless to think of what is left undone, especially if you are taking care of your infant.
Nice advice, I think, but of course I still have my own delusions: I believe I will be sending Christmas cards with birth announcements and a family portrait. I think I will wrap, pack and ship Christmas presents. I plan to prepare a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, like homemade cranberry relish and pumpkin pies. The house will not only get clean, but remain fairly respectable, somehow. The baby will weigh 7.5 lbs, but somehow I will lose 25 pounds at the time of delivery. I will continue to post my deep thoughts, while also inspiring the children to change the litter boxes, read classic novels and write thank notes for all their presents. And after several sleepless weeks with a cough and 32 weeks worth of baby onboard, I have the particularly ridiculous sentiment that: I cannot wait for the baby to come, so I can get some rest.
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