Patience. Even thought these are in no particular order, I think patience deserves the high spot. I have always been a patient person. I am very good at going with the flow and can adapt to changes fairly well. But it wasn't until every last button of mine has been pushed that I have learned how much I can deal with. One of my harder moments as a mom is getting used to little sleep. She sleeps so good now, but she lack is the nap area, and when she is sick, nights and days and very mixed up in her world. When I am tired that is when I am most irritable. Buts its amazing how I have learned to adapt and stop feeling sorry for myself that my baby made a huge mess in the kitchen right after I cleaned it, and to just pick her up and love her, because a mess being made means she is learning.
Seeing the world through innocent eyes. I always felt like I was pretty good at getting down on a child's level. Sometimes it's much easier to just pull out a bunch of toys for her and sit on the couch while she plays. But what is important is me getting on the floor and teaching her new things. Every place she goes, every new thing she sees, new tastes, new smells, everything becomes a millions times more exciting when I can see life through a child's eyes.
Learning to be a kid again. I can't wait for the day where she can run and play on her own, while I can just sit back, relax and watch her enjoy herself. As much as I do that now, by pulling out her toys, and taking a few seconds to myself, I hope the day never comes where I do not want to play with her. Even though she can't do much on her own, I will help her be able to experience it all. A few days ago we went to a splash pad. My baby can crawl so a place like that is not the best place for her. But it is, because by the time we left, we were both soaking wet. I was in the middle of it all with her, enjoying every second. Watching her smile every time we ran though the water fall, and her laugh every time she got sprayed in the face. We love going to the park, and yet again I am having to get up on all the structures so she can have fun. Going down slides and swinging with her on my lap. Reading kids books, and watching despicable me with a bowl full of cheese its. Building forts and crawling through all the tunnels with her as she tries to get away. Only 10 months old we have done all of this. Some days its hard to be creative but the more we play, the more she learns and the more I learn.
Cleaning can wait. My routine is pretty simple. I clean up as the day goes one, put a load or two of laundry in, wipe down the kitchen once or twice a day. etc. But when one of two things happen, all of that gets pushed aside. Some days its because I am at my limit and the second she goes down for bed, I don't want to do anything else besides sit down and watch tv, OR its because we are having so much fun during the day that I just don't want to make the time to clean the bathroom, or vacuum. With how fast these months have gone by, I don't want to miss out on anything because I am too worried about what my house looks like. Most of the time anyone could drop by at anytime and I would be completely fine on how things look, but on occasion it is a disaster. It has taken me some time to be ok with this. But at the end of the day when I'm rocking her to sleep nothing is more important to me than being there for my sweet girl.
Things are just things. I get so excited with I buy her a new toy. While she gets excited too, if I give her a wooden spoon, she acts like we are at Disneyland. Cheap things are great. But what I'm talking about is the fact that my lovely baby broke my iPhone screen. shattered. She found my stash of nail polish and smashed it on the floor. Brand new. I have found little teeth marks on my couch, and on her crib. My car key jams sometimes because of how much spit is in there. I had to replace my phone charger because she bit through the cord. (another example of where my patience comes in) As much as all of these things and more make me so mad, I have to remember that things are just things. I can live fine without all of those. But what is more important is her. I cant really discipline her yet, but I hope that I never get soo fixated on my "things" that I would get soooo mad at her. She's a child, and will be one for a long time. Teaching her what to do and what not to do will come as she gets older, but when I look her nothing in the world is more important.
