50 days ago I added ‘mother’ and ‘parent’ to my list of titles (well, actually 52 days ago – it’s taken me a few days to finish this post!). Without a doubt, these last 50 days have been the hardest of my life. I had no idea just how physically, mentally and emotionally demanding this parenting gig would be. My friend Gavin described it like a baby bootcamp. He’s right. You get pushed to your limit, you’re completely exhausted, and then you’re screamed at (often literally) to give just a little bit more.

But as the ‘new parent fog’ begins to lift I’m beginning to appreciate the lessons I’ve learned and new insights I’ve gained. As well as the million and one practical parenting lessons, here are 10 larger life lessons that the last 50 days has revealed or reminded me of…

1. There are no do-overs. Miss some tired signs and keep her up too long, think she’s tired when really she’s crying ’cause she’s starving, don’t burp her for long enough and she ends up covered in vomit… You never get to go back in time and make a different decision. You have to live with the outcome of the little decisions you make and all you can do is try to learn when things don’t go quite right. But at the same time, the ‘no do-overs’ also applies to the good stuff. I’ll never get a second chance to experience her ‘firsts’ so even when I’m wanting to fast-forward through the tough bits, I need to be present and to enjoy these moments as much as I can. [Read more…]