Let the guilt begin

At Christmas I received (mostly Tyler received) a number of thoughtful gifts from friends, family and even friends of family.  And now, every day since I have thought, I MUST write a thank you note.  But seriously, TODAY, I MUST write a thank you note.  Although, just between you and me, I do not think new parents should be obligated to write thank you notes.  Hello, I'm busy trying to figure out if the bump on my son's leg is normal (it is), googling how to get him to sleep through the night (didn't work), and wondering why I put a nursing pad in the refrigerator (still unsure).  I will get to your thank you letter, but in the meantime please take this as my humble apology.  Your gift was received and appreciated and a note is forthcoming...hopefully.

Parenthood is all about survival.  I have survived so far, but it isn't exactly how I pictured.  As a woman without children, I had all these plans and ideas.  Then, he came and I have slowly but surely punted every single one of them out the window.  He'll sleep in his own room from birth.  HA!! HAHAHA!  I won't let him watch TV until he's 2, please this is the only way I can distract him long enough to feed him. 

As a parent, you do what you need to do to survive.  If that means taking him to daycare for a few hours even though you are off work so you can finally take a shower that is rushed, brush your hair without holding a baby, and finally, FINALLY picking up the hard candy stuck to the floor under the couch - you do it.  And you do it proudly.  So, for all those moms out there that have let their babies keep a pacifier for a bit past what is recommended, or introduced solids a bit earlier than what is recommended, or let your babies snuggle up in bed with you - do it proudly.  You survived another day of the hardest, most rewarding job you'll never earned a dime doing.