When I was a new mum I was told endless times ‘just you wait’, that this was the good bit, that it would just get harder, that I should soak it all in and enjoy every second. The intentions were good but as a new mum with a baby who cried 23 hours a day, who was teetering on the brink of postnatal depression, it wasn’t what I needed. The thought that *this* was the best bit was an impossible thought.
So for anyone who feels, or who has felt, the same. This is for you:
Just you wait until they become your best friend in the whole world.
Just you wait until you have inside jokes and can read each expression on their face like it’s your favourite book.
Just you wait until you can take them on days out that you actually enjoy too.
Just you wait until you get to introduce them to your favourite childhood movies and dance in the kitchen to your favourite songs together.
Just you wait until they have their own life and own interests and they can tell you things that you haven’t told them first.
Just you wait until you can leave the house with an actual handbag again.
Just you wait until they day they call you beautiful when you put on a new dress.
Just you wait until they do things that make you so proud you could burst.
Just you wait until you actually get five minutes to yourself every so often.
Just you wait.
Just you wait, because there are so many wonderful things on the way to you.
Becoming a mother isn’t just about having a baby, it’s everything that happens after that too.
It’s the journey that you go on together, where you both change and grow, constantly.
Things get better, and harder, and easier, and harder and better again.
It’s not all rainbows and happily ever afters but it is SO much more than just the baby years.
So if you love the baby stage, great. If you find it impossibly hard, and can’t wait for them to need you a little less, I promise it happens and when it does, yes you might miss it a bit, but there are so many amazing things around the corner for you.
Just you wait!
