Hello MiniKind readers! My name is Natalie and i blog at Nat the Fat Rat. I am so honored to be here today! I had the divine pleasure of meeting Miss Erin at Alt Summit last year, and that woman endeared herself to me almost immediately. Erin is the most effervescent creature i’ve ever met, and just being near her makes me smile. This beautiful little girl of hers is in for such a life of happiness and magic, what a lucky duck! Erin asked me to share a bit of my best mama advice (I am proud mama to a total charmer of a twenty-month-old). I am oh so happy to oblige…
For me, there has been nothing in motherhood that has been able to match the power and amazement of those first few weeks of raw magic with my new baby. Nothing was normal, not my body, not my emotions, and certainly not the chaos of my living room, that’s for sure. We are talking baby paraphernalia, everywhere! I felt like I was connected to the earth itself, like all of the eternities couldn’t contain me if it tried. I was woman, hear me roar! Also I was exhausted, my house was a mess, and hey guess what: after you have a baby, you still look five months pregnant for a week or two. Isn’t that the rudeness? It was actually quite distracting.
And so, my thoughts and wishes for the lovely Erin (who surely needs none, I’ve never met another woman more nurturing, girl is gonna do great), is to just let it all go. Let go of the messy living room, let go of the disaster in your bedroom, let go of the extra lumps on your body that threaten to bring you down. Don’t let it distract you from the amazing wonder that is happening in front of you and within you. You’re never going to get these first weeks with your sweet girl back, and these first weeks will make up some of the most awe-inspiring, beautiful, poignant moments of your life. This is where you find out what you’re made of. The tears, the pain, the soul-crushing love, those sweet brand new baby yawns; be there with them 100% and nowhere else! Your lumpy body will lean out, the pain will ease, and eventually you’ll find the energy during her naps to clear out all that clutter. But this right here won’t last, so relish it! This is your time!
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Thank you so much, sweet Natalie – I’m tearing up! Awesome, awesome advice. (And stay tuned for more mom advice from my favorite bloggers over the next few weeks. What a wealth of information these gals are!)