My Advice? You Got This!!

Blog Every Day In May

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

So I'm doing this a day late because I was travelling all yesterday (whoot!) I made the LOOONG flight from Seattle, Washington to Atlanta, Georgia. Complete with a layover in Midway. My little Rhapsody did amazingly. More amazingly than I could ever have expected, in fact. So today (or yesterday's) blog is all about my baby. Or more specifically, your baby!

One thing I have learnt over these past 19 months of motherhood (and I say 19, because I believe motherhood begins the moment you become pregnant) is that not everyone's good advice is, well, good advice FOR YOU. Some advice works really well for some people, but not quite so well with others. I say all this, because my advice to you may not work for your family or your baby, but I hope that my words can give inspiration and thought to the way in which you think about your child.

Let your baby do their thing, whatever their thing may be! Don't stress about it, you and your baby will figure this out, whatever this is.

As a mom I am told what to do, how to do it, and how often I should do it. The one thing I have learned is that if I just let my baby do her thing, there is so much less stress in my life. If Rhapsody wants a cuddle, I give her a cuddle. If she wants a diaper change, I surely change that diaper. She didn't want baby food, I researched and found a better way to introduce food to her. She didn't want to lay on her back in the bath, I found a seat for her. She wants to crawl, and play unhindered of mommy, I taught her the meaning of "No," and let her do her thing when it wasn't about to harm her or my doggies. I just let Rhapsody tell me how I should take care of her. And tell me she does. I just take the time to observe her, and she knows me (afterall, I did bring her into this world).

Don't stress. It has become my motto. I was so worried about this flight across the country. We would be confined to our seats on the plane. Rhapsody does NOT like confinement one bit. She likes FREEEDOM! She wants to crawl, walk, and happily scream at you. And that's exactly what I did on the plane. On our first flight, 4 hours long, we walked up and down the aisles, her holding onto my fingers until she decided she wanted to crawl (and get into peoples bags!) The flight attendants learned her name, and she gave everyone a smile on the plane with her happy bouncy and drooly smile. I didn't stress, and Rhapsody got exactly what she needed! She even took a little nap after such a long parade across the aisles! After the flight everyone kept saying how they couldn't believe how well she did. At Midway we got some food, and I let Rhaps roam free in the terminal. Then she took a nap most of the next flight until we landed in Atlanta! As far as trips go this one was pretty good for flights! No screaming, angry babies, or crazy haired momma's. All because I didn't stress. We just worked this out.

You do what you need to do to be a good momma, and you will be a GOOD momma! My dear friend Kari said something similar to me once and I carry it with me every day.



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