Mommy Must Haves: A few words from Tasha…

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There is so much excitement surrounding a woman’s first pregnancy.  And what’s more exciting than creating a registry for that new little bundle of joy, it comes second only to your wedding registry right?  But then you walk into the chosen store and you are quite suddenly bombarded with just how much stuff is out there for your baby.  You look online or in their registry packet and almost every item in the story is a “MUST HAVE” and you start to wonder, “really, does little peanut really need all that stuff?“.  It’s hard to know and it’s easy to get carried away (especially with that little scanning gun thing they give you).

Well, you asked for it and we here at BVTMB are responding.  For the next two weeks each of our writers will be giving you their own personal lists of “MUST HAVE” baby and/or kid items.  So all of you new Mamas out there, get out your pen and paper, or just the ‘note pad’ app on your Iphone, and get ready to take some notes.  We hope this series sheds some new light on a rather overwhelming industry.

As I was thinking about writing the kick off post for this new series, I knew I wouldn’t be able to share any new products or ideas with you. My babies are long since grown into little men and with that, a new era of baby products has been introduced. I can’t believe how much has changed since only eight or nine years ago! So I will leave the baby products and must-haves to my current baby having BVT Mom counterparts. What I will share with you are things I wish I would have known then that I know.

I’ll kick us off with a picture of my fat faced first born. Check out those delicious cheeks.

babycollage

What I Wish I Knew Then That I Know Now

1.) It won’t be perfect, but it will be ok.

When you are pregnant with your first child, you imagine how peaceful rocking your new baby will be as you sit in the rocking chair of the freshly decorated nursery. And you will have those perfect quiet moments. But you will also have those moments where he is screaming and you don’t know why and you then you start crying and then it’s just a big ugly cry mess. And that’s ok! Every moment won’t be perfect, but it will be ok.

2.) Your husband won’t hear the baby cry in the middle of the night.

sleptlikeahusband

The little comic above is so unfortunately true. I don’t get it. How do they sleep like that? I don’t know but if you plan on getting night time help from that husband of yours? Get your poking elbows ready.

3.) Read the parenting books before they turn into people with opinions.

I was so involved with preparing for the baby and then just surviving toddler-hood that I didn’t think much about planning for that part where they turn into human beings. I wish I would’ve read those parenting books before they grew into actual kids. I think I may have saved myself quite a bit of trouble.

4.) Babies cry. Sometimes it’s ok to let them.

My first son was treated like royalty. If he squeaked we jumped. I drove myself nuts making sure he was happy as often as possible. Three kids later, I see that was a mistake. Babies cry. Often. It’s ok. It’s how they talk. It’s how they let us know what’s wrong. My favorite baby prep book was The Baby Whisperer. She talks about listening to your baby’s cries to figure out what’s wrong. Let the baby squeak. You will learn a lot from them! I don’t mean letting them scream their heads off while you ignore them, mind you. She will be ok to cry for a minute while you go to the bathroom. He can whimper while you stir dinner to avoid eating burnt food. Babies cry! Sometimes it’s ok to let them. Don’t feel guilty.

5.) Ask for help.

Newflash: You can’t do it all. So why try? Ask for help. No one will think you are weak for doing so. We all know how hard it is! And no one expects you to figure it all out in the first week. Heck, no one expects you to figure it out in the first few months! It’s hard work being a new mom! Ask for help.

Stay tuned for the rest  of the team’s must have baby products and more as the series continues!

Until then, what do you wish you knew then that you know now?

2 COMMENTS

  1. Such wise words Tasha. I went through a phase where I read a lot of sleep books, as in how to get my kid to sleep. They drove me nuts because they all said something different. Finally my husband had to assert his authority and make me swear I would stop reading all those books because they were driving me crazy. Ha! To say I was a little stressed and sleep derprived is putting it lightly. What I know now that I wished I’d known then.

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