Two plus years of parenting an angel and here are my honest submissions of what it feels like! (9 months within and 14.5 months outside of me!)
1) It takes SO much to parent a child. To be a mother. Every thing about you alters – from your body, the way you look at yourself (I no longer means just you), your day, your dreams, your life.
(Recently had an incident where a mindless post on a moms group led to so much judgment and nastiness – and everyone after a while realized it was completely unfounded!)
I wish we are so much more loving towards ourselves.I also wish we were so much kinder to other moms. Parenting is a sacred act for most mothers, and each one is doing what they can. Unless someone asks me – I keep my advise to myself.
We seem to be in such a hurry to judge other moms. I am happy to offer all that is needed – if they reach out. Else, focus on parenting your child, yaar!
2) It takes a complete village to bring up a child. Arun, me, Papa, our helpers give so much of us. It helps when all of us are aligned so that Athyasaa does not get mixed inputs.
Where I am very clear about certain things, I have established it and both Arun and papa respect my views. And where its open to discussion, we simple free flow.
(For instance I do not wish for my child to have any screen time and all of us are aligned to this)
3) Every parent is so unique. Every child is so unique. You do you.
I have friends whose kids are in a routine. And seeing how well the kids are doing, I have a set routine for Athyasaa. It works well for us.
However, I know of parents who prefer letting their kids simply flow and sleep/eat/bathe at whatever time. I really believe these are so personal and you do what works best for you and your kid.
And finally – just want to end with saying parenting makes you kinder, more beautiful. If we just release ourselves from the burden of perfection and mindlessly following trends, we are on track!
All of us are enjoying this journey and I want to see what it does to us and our baby… as we walk along, one more day into tomorrow.