Teenymunchkins’s Weblog

Guest blogger number 3 is Sam Thewlis and she has written a fantastic article on Ten Things Every Mother Should Know.

Ten things every new mother should know

1. It is perfectly normal to just stare at your new baby for hours. He or she is pretty amazing.
   However it is also perfectly normal to be far too knackered to be sentimental and just want to sleep!
2. New babies often sleep a lot in the first few days. No matter how proud you are or how many visitors you get, do not wake the baby. You will so wish you had taken advantage of the opportunity later.
3. It is perfectly socially acceptable to ask visitors politely to leave when you have had enough, and impolitely if they still don’t take the hint. Good visitors ‘pay’ for their visit with food or ironing.
4. Some children sleep through the night in the first few weeks. Many don’t. If you are lucky, smile inwardly to yourself or you may find yourself attacked by less fortunate sleep-deprived mothers. Please note ‘through the night’ means 5 or 6 hours, not 8.
5. If you have a baby girl, she will be forced to wear pink for the first 3 months of her life because small baby clothes don’t seem to come in any other colours. This is probably because every mother likes to think her little girl is so beautiful and so obviously a girl that anyone getting it wrong is castigated with a steely stare. Pink clothing therefore avoids shopping centre altercations.
6. Do not let Dad register the baby’s name by himself. Although, if you are unmarried he needs to be there, if you are not there, you only have yourself to blame for spelling mistakes or even the wrong name (it happens, honestly).
7.  You swore it would never happen, but over the next 6 months you will become an expert on shade, consistency and aroma of poo.
8.  You will receive copious amounts of conflicting and unsolicited advice from every corner. Feel free to ignore at will.
9. Before you are allowed to take the baby home you will need to sit and pass a parenting proficiency test. Actually, you don’t, but when you are first left alone with that tiny helpless being, you will wish you did.
10. At the end of the day, being a new mother is hard, fantastic, confusing, exhilarating and special. And it is an achievement you should be really proud of. Well done you!

Thanks Sam for this brilliant article.  I read this and thought back to when my 4 were babies and can totally relate to the points that have been raised here.

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