Mom’s Survival Skills

by Carly,

Being a mom has taught me more survival skills than anything else in my life. Maybe I cannot tie a million knots, start a fire with two pieces of wood, or survive in the wilderness with only the clothes off my back like some of those reality shows on TV, but one thing I can do is console my one year old while helping my seven year old with her homework and telling my five year old her latest dance move is beautiful. I can also juggle three kids at the grocery store while I tackle a grocery list a mile long and still manage to stay under the budget we have for food.

You wonder why everyone asks how mothers do it all. I think the answer is simple.  We do it because we have to.  We figure it out.  It does not always work the way we want it to, but we constantly try something new. It gets better with time.

When the nurses at the hospital handed me my first baby, I had no idea what to do.  She was tiny and looked so breakable. I made my husband change her first diaper. She was premature and only weighed five pounds and it scared me to death.  It is strange that it scared me so much.  I was the one that had been babysitting since the age of twelve. I don’t even think my husband had ever changed a diaper at that point. When we put her cute tiny body in the car-seat, I was terrified of the 10 minute drive home. What if something happened or what if I didn’t know what to do or how to raise this adorable little girl!

Fast forward seven years and two more babies. I feel a little more prepared. There have been many struggles and lots of insecurities but there is so much that you learn through it all. You realize when faced with awful situations that you have no choice but to figure it out.

Something else that is also hard about this mom business is that just when you think you have it all figured out, everything changes.  Your baby is finally sleeping through the night wonderfully when she starts teething and crying all night. Or your baby  masters the art of eating baby food and then suddenly becomes super picky.

As my kids are getting older, these new things are really throwing me for a loop: Homework, new friends and when they are old enough for a sleepover it’s terrifying all over again. Don’t even get me started on thinking about what it will be like when they are in junior high!  Luckily my husband is a Jr high school teacher and can help me get through it just like he did so long ago changing my daughter’s first diaper.

What things have you struggled with while raising children?

Carly is a contributing writer for Mommy Moment. She has 3 very dramatic but beautiful girls ages 7, 4, and 1. Carly loves to write, cook, and connect with other moms through this crazy thing called blogging! See what she has been up to over at www.livingthescream.com