Until I Became a Parent…

There were so many assumptions and fixed ideas before I became a parent. I was one of the last ones in our friend circle to become a mom, so there was a lot I’d soaked in … and based on what I’d seen and was told, I had a very specific set of ideas.

She was going to sleep in her crib, in our master bedroom, for the first six months then transition to her own room downstairs; she was going to be bottle-fed, I would pump; she would go to daycare while I went back to work like "normal" people do; she would be an obedient, "good" child.

Well, despite nursing for 3.5 years (never took the bottle), co-sleeping for 5, spending 24/7 with her homemaker mom because of her 32 allergies, she's blossomed into this confident, empathetic, sure-footed, hard-headed, funny, kind 11-year-old who's taught me that change is the only constant in life, grace is necessary for oneself, and love is all you need to be a parent.