Lessons I’ve Learned… Freedom I’ve Gained
One of the things I have learned as a mom in my 9 months, is to be consistent but not controlling. The picture above doesn’t apply to me yet, but I know it may in the future. So whatever stage you are in, think of where you can let go of a little control, but stay consistent. There are so many things as a pre-mom that you think, oh I would never do that, or I don’t like that, and on and on and on… But you know what,Sometimes you don’t understand until you are in the thick of it. Sometimes things don’t go your way. Sometimes things turn out completely different than you expected. And guess what, that is okay! We are not perfect. We are going to mess up. There are going to be days, hours, minutes, weeks that we don’t think we can get through it. But we can. The little humans we are raising aren’t perfect, but guess what, we aren’t either. And two imperfect people don’t make a perfect person. So there has to be some give, some wiggle room, some space to figure it out. Now that doesn’t mean try something for a day and give up. Choose things, be consistent, but don’t hold on so tightly that you aren’t willing to change. Kids growth and development and stages come in seasons. Seasons can be short, seasons can be long. Don’t necessarily let your kid dictate, but understand the season they may be in. You are still the parent, they are the kid But guide and direct them in love. Don’t just control. Be free to live and learn alongside them.
My kid crawls around naked half the time, pulls things out of every drawer in the kitchen, loves to open and close doors, grabs other kids toys, has slept in my bed, has spent hours at night crying, we’ve been “that kid” with the cold, crawls up the stairs (with me behind him for now), has heard me and my husband fighting, and I’ve carried him a few too many times on our walks. Some of those things, I didn’t think I would do or let him do. But I am learning as a mom to let him explore, let him be the little boy he is, set up boundaries but let him embrace the adventure of life. But the things I do pick, I need to be consistent. At times I get overwhelmed and don’t choose anything. But I need to go with my gut (or if I don’t have instinct just go with something) and stick to it. But if things change, I can change, and I can be consistent with something else.
And what I’ve heard, is what works with one kid, doesn’t always work with the next. So stay on your toes mamas!
I have learned many more lessons… many more to come… but here is just one I wanted to share.
