The Year of the Baby

I mentioned the loneliness before a while ago, when I was in the thick of the newborn black hole. You know, the event horizon where you are unable to do anything but be sucked into the care of your new baby. Wikipedia defines an event horizon saying “…the gravitational pull becomes so great as to make escape impossible.” And that is very true. The birth of a child, a new human being who depends on you for their survival becomes your existence, escape is impossible (in the beginning). Once they get a little older and the need to get out of the house becomes greater than the fear of the germ infested world then life regains some semblance of what it used to be, but it will never be the same again. It will be different in some difficult ways and some amazing ways but one thing holds true, you are the only one who will have a total and complete understanding of what your life is like going forward. The days of living with roommates and sharing every experience together is gone. The days of hanging out with your best friend every weekend are over. Heck I get giddy when I actually find time to call my best friend on the phone these days! 

I say all of this because after almost two years floating through my event horizon abyss, I am finally going to be joined by others! For so long I have had only two other close friends who have children and can understand where I’m coming from. Everyone else has been very sweet and understanding but I cannot wait until I have some familiar faces swirling around in the motherhood chasm with me! This year there has been an explosion of happy baby news from a lot of my friends. It’s like EVERYONE is having a baby this year and I could not be more excited! Several very close friends and even my sister (yeah I’m going to mention you once) are expecting. FINALLY! Other people who won’t have time to go out to late dinners followed by drinks! Finally! A mirrored image of two loving and overwhelmed people trying to put their kid’s coat on after a Thanksgiving dinner that was served too late! Finally! Other people who have to leave the zoo at a moment’s notice because the stomach bug showed up a half hour into the meticulously planned trip! FINALLY! No more white pieces of clothing for presents! They will understand! Skiddle DOOOOO my friends! Oh happy day! 

My army of mommy friends is growing in numbers and (within know-it-all reason), I get to be like a “mommy consultant”! Don’t get me wrong, I WILL NOT be telling people how to parent or what to do, but I can try to explain to them what things were like for me or what worked for us or where to go to find good reading materials on certain subjects. I truly believe no two styles of parenting are the same, everyone does it a little differently based on what works for their family and I just want to encourage my friends to do what they feel comfortable doing. 

Being alone in this mommy journey for so long lead me to seek out other mothers who were going through what I was. That’s how I stumbled on the mom blogs. I was introduced to this amazing supportive community that encouraged me to parent the best way I could and I can 100% say that because of the guidance and honesty of others I have become the mom I am today. So I feel that it’s only right to give back to the next group of moms, to share with them my struggles and triumphs, to let them know that they are not alone. The rest of us are out here so feel free to reach out for support. I am truly thrilled and honored to share in my friend’s journeys into motherhood and beyond.