As the year draws to a close, there are all kinds of Best Of lists to remind us of all the great things about the past year. I’d like to take a second to record some of the important lessons I’ve learned in the year 2008, not listed in order of least or most important.
1) The things that you choose to devote your emotional energy to better be worth it. Otherwise, you’re just wasting time better spend on the great things in life.
2) There are plenty of different types of wonderful bottles made by the Baby Industry to help you keep your kid alive. You don’t have to buy them all. Step AWAY from the bottle aisle!
3) Get rid of the things you don’t need. While it may be nice to keep one or two onesies in newborn size, you don’t need to keep 20. And why do you have 5 pairs of size 1 shoes? Seriously, give them to someone who needs them.
4) In times of crisis, try to remind yourself that you’ve been here before and survived. And if surviving means asking for help, then do it; it doesn’t make you weak, it makes you smart.
5) LUVS are the greatest diaper known to man. I learned this lesson in November. After already spending an insane amount of money on Pampers throughout the year.
6) Target brand formula is the greatest formula known to man. I learned THIS lesson in August. After spending an blood-curdling amount of money on Similac throughout the year.
7) Panicking when your kids gets sick without a fever is ridiculous. Babies get colds. It’s not consumption.
8) Your friends who don’t have kids may NOT really want to hear about your kids’ abundance or lack of poop. So what! Tell them anyway, it’ll make a good inside joke.
9) Not everyone will try to be understanding when you have kids. Your supervisor doesn’t have to care, people walking in and out of doors ahead of you in public don’t have to care, and neither do the people driving too closely behind you in traffic. Don’t take it personally.
10) They are ALL right: if you do not nap when baby naps, you will regret it.
11) Plain Cheerios actually aren’t that bad.
12) No matter how much or little you buy at the grocery store, your baby food bill is always going to total about $20.00. I don’t know how the Gerber Gods do it, it just happens.
13) When people ask if your kid is “mixed” and with what, take it in stride. You know what they mean even if they aren’t very artful about how they ask it. But sometimes, just for fun, tell them “yes, with cashew and macadamia.”
14) Most of the well known slogans and symbols of the 20th Century were stolen without credit from the art of motherhood:
“The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love,”
“We Do More Before 9 am than Most People Do All Day,”
“Do you feel lucky? Well, punk…Do Ya? “
15) Be honest. If you can be strong enough to tell the truth, not only to others but to yourself, you’ll find that you will sleep really well at night.
It’s been a wild ride over these past 12 months. There have been times when I’ve laughed so hard, my eyes watered. And times when I was leaking tears for other, less fun reasons. I can’t wait to see where the next year takes Trixie, Dixie, and me. Should be interesting…
