I became pregnant unexpectedly. Obviously I know how I got pregnant, I just didn’t think I ever would produce a child because I’d never really wanted one.
Going through my pregnancy I asked lots of questions and got lots of advice about what to expect. The only thing I remember people saying was that it will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
So none of the advice people gave me really helped me. How can people explain what it’s really like to be sleep deprived in the first few weeks of new motherhood? How can people describe how it feels to breastfeed? How can people tell you about the overwhelming feeling of love and the accompanying crush of responsibility that motherhood is?
Well, nobody can really make you feel what it is like until you hold that baby in your arms and you have to start dealing with them.
I didn’t know how and how often to change a nappy and having to do that freaked me out. Looking back now, that was one of the easiest things I had to learn.
I managed to crawl my way through babyhood and toddlerhood and then he started school and the fun really started. Fun being the double edged sword here. School was a huge adjustment for him and he started behaving really badly. It wasn’t really funny that he was sent to the principal’s office on his second day at school. And he wasn’t just sent, he had to picked up and moved to the office. This wasn’t the last time he had to visit the principal, or have detention either.
He also really misbehaved with his after school carer, so much so that I inwardly cringed before I knocked on her door to pick him up. It didn’t matter how much I talked to him or tried to explain to him that his behaviour was not okay.
A year has passed since he started school and he has come a long way due to a change in after school care provision, psychologist visits, a new teacher so I’m actually enjoying motherhood for about the first time. He still has his moments of being a pain in the neck but for the most part I really enjoy his company. He makes me laugh. He makes me think. He sometimes brings out the child in me. He makes me see the world through his eyes.
If I wasn’t experiencing motherhood, what would I be doing I wonder?
This is for the September MamaBlogga group writing project.
I am so glad that you are experiencing more joys daily with your little bloke!
It’s funny how motherhood can be a disaster up to a point and then things suddenly change. A change in one sustem forces changes in other systems. Remember this when he is a teenager and if things start going wrong again. Change something and see if his behaviour changes.
Now that my two big kids have left home, I am loving being their mother….lol….I am reluctant to change anything lest they return home!
Like Jeanie, I’m very glad you’re enjoying your time as a mother more now!
Thanks again for participating!
I’m glad you and your son are in a better place now. Motherhood certainly isn’t without its challenges…
How wise. It’s so true … I would be wasting a lot of time, that’s for sure.
No one is really ready to be a parent, but it is amazing how we muddle through, isn’t it?
I’m glad you’re enjoying motherhood more now.
motherhood is definitely not for the faint of heart. I am glad that motherhood is becoming more enjoyable to you. I constantly have to remind myself to relax and enjoy it, instead of stressing, because too soon it will all be over…
You have been through a lot but it sounds like things are falling into place. Just remember – everything is a phase.
I’m glad things are going better and you’re enjoying being a mom more now! 🙂
It sounds like a familiar tale! I have 3 kids now. Number one was a breeze so I thought “I can do this” and had number 2. Whole different ballgame! He is 12 now and still the most complex individual I know. It makes life tentative sometimes but he is so exciting, clever and loving that it is all worth it. Of course, he was an individual at 6 months of age and no longer a baby. Yes, that is how I came to have number 3. What a sucker! LOL!