A Pretty Great Way to Start Off the Year
I don’t know about you, but so far 2015 is off to a pretty great start. I cleaned my house really well, finally got this huge stain out of the carpet in my dining room that three different brands of carpet cleaners couldn’t vanquish, and, oh yeah, my best friend (the one I helped throw a baby shower for) gave birth to a healthy, GORGEOUS, smushy little baby girl.
The two of us got along famously, though that could have been from the altitude sickness because I am just so very, very tall.
Ten out of ten recommend being on this side of the whole having-a-baby thing, by the way. You get all the fun of snuggling the delicious little newborn lump-of-cuteness and none of the sore nipples, sleep deprivation, and assorted other goodies that come with creating a brand new person using your body.
Still, I’d be lying if I weren’t enjoying some pretty intense nostalgia right now. There’s just nothing, I repeat NOTHING, like holding your own newborn baby. Memorizing every eyelash, letting yourself get bewitched by every tiny knuckle crease, counting chub rolls and then counting them again to see whether they’ve multiplied yet. It’s a super special time, and it’s only when your kids are way too big to swaddle that you really understand what all those old people are saying when they tell you, “It all goes by so fast! Cherish these days!”
Every time I leave the hospital I have to go right home and wrap my babies in great big hugs because man, oh, man, that time really did go by fast. And even though my son is more than half my height and my daughter no longer fits under my chin the way she used to, I can still remember exactly how they looked and smelled when we were each other’s whole world, and how it felt to hold their tiny hands and watch them breathe while they slept on my chest.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m making myself cry in a Starbucks and needs must hop off the nostalgia train before strangers start asking me if I’m okay. Because I am okay, I’m just a mom, and I’m really, really happy for my friend, who’s got her very own baby to snuggle and love and memorize.
That’s a pretty great way to start off a new year, no?
