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Challenge: Life Changes

I know nothing. Not a thing.

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What changes when you have kids?

All KINDS of things.

You already know about the typical changes that affect you, from saying peace out to sleep and finding random Cheerios wedged between places in your car you didn't even know existed, to physical changes with your body (sorry about your luck, boobs) and serious mental ones like postpartum depression.

What nobody tells you though, and what I want to highlight, is the fact that you will be reduced down to your most humble and needy state of feeling like you know nothing.

You read all the books in preparation for the arrival of your little one. You make mental notes of how bad other parents suck at their job when you go out to dinner or take trips to the grocery store. That kid eating straight out of the cereal box with a snotty nose and germy hands? Yep. You'll never do that. You hear of friends who let their kids sleep in their bed and breastfeed until their child can read and write and you shake your head in knowing judgement.

Then you actually become a parent.

And you realize that you just gave birth to the most special, unique person on the planet that nobody could have written a book about because no two humans are exactly alike.

And the fear sets in of how you are going to keep another human alive and thriving for the next 18+ years of your life.

And all that advice about sleeping and feeding and sound machines and pacifiers all goes out the window because your child has a very strong will and does what he wants. When he wants.

And you look up to heaven and ask God to please help you because you have no idea what you are doing.

And that thing called maternal instinct kicks in and tells you that no matter what anyone tells you, you've got this because you know what's best for your baby.

And you realize that whatever it takes to get through the day, like handing your screaming kid a box of cereal so he can chill out and you can finish shopping, then so be it.

And you realize the TRUE experts in this thing called motherhood are other mothers who have been there and done that, and you instantly feel connected to anyone who has ever become a mother since the beginning of time. Especially those who gave birth without the luxury of an epidural or a hospital.

And you realize the community of motherhood and fatherhood is there for you, to crowdsource this thing called life, and you tap into it because we are all pretty cool people, whether we breastfeed or bottle-feed or co-sleep or not.

And you realize that everything is going to be okay, as long as your child is loved. Which mine is. Fiercely.

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