Finding sanity... and hanging on to it too.

Life as a new mom can be described as many things: hectic, overwhelming, busy, fun, challenging, chaotic... and the list goes on. So how is a mom supposed to keep her cool amidst this whirlwind of dirty diapers, spit-up, tears, milestones and feedings? Because things like dishes and laundry don't learn to wash themselves. Rover hasn't grown opposable thumbs and cannot feed himself nor let himself out for his daily tour of the neighborhood. Groceries still need to be bought and meals cooked. Many people will say "Well that's where dad comes in". But not everyone has the luxury of having hubby on hand to pick up all the slack while you focus on the new little one. My guy works from an unholy hour of the morning to late in the afternoon or evening which leaves me home with baby. His job is physically demanding so I'm also the one who is up with baby all night during weekdays. It gets pretty hard to keep all of the chores up and on top of little one, let alone have time for yourself!

Once upon a time, a shower was like a God-given right that I took for granted. It was rare that I took a shower to just relax; it was all about function for me. That was back in the pre-baby days. Nowadays it's a source of excitement. It took six weeks before I was able to manage to shower without DBF home. Before that I was penciling it in during his downtime when he came home from work.

DBF doesn't understand how easily time slips by without seeming to get anything major accomplished. I'm sure all the mommies know what I'm talking about though. Lately the Frog has been in one of those stages where he wants to be held 24/7 or nurse or both. God forbid that I actually set him down long enough to dash to the toilet or microwave the first edible thing my hand touched in the kitchen. After so long, it becomes enough to make your head spin. But I found my sanity! It came in the form of the longest piece of stretchy green material I'd ever held. Let me just say that I LOVE my Sleepy Wrap.

Learning to wrap was a pain in the butt, I won't lie. I almost gave it up after a few goes but forced myself to keep trying and I'm SO glad I did. The Frog loves being in his wrap and it has pretty much been the cure-all for crying. If he's fussy then I pop him in the wrap. When I'm on the go I pop him in the wrap. When I NEED to get the laundry done I pop him in the wrap. Sometimes the Frog goes right to sleep, othertimes he stays awake and just hangs out. Regardless, I actually have a little bit of my own life back! And recently I actually got the hang of nursing him in the wrap and have actually trooped through Walmart with both hands free, a happily nursing baby and no one even suspected.

The more I wear the Frog, the more I wonder why more moms don't wear their babies too. Once you catch on, it's so easy and for me at least is very relaxing. It's so nice to have my little one so close and so content. I never knew about babywearing until I saw some cute pictures and said to myself "Hey I want to do that too!" It brings me such warm positive feelings that I wish other moms and moms to be would see those kinds of pictures and want to do it too and discover what a wonderful feeling it is!

Adventures in Babywearing
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