Mommy Moment: What my baby already knows
Mommy Moment: What my baby already knows
As I write this, I’ve been at this mothering thing for:
815.4757 days
19,571.417 hours
1,174,285 minutes
70,457,100 seconds
We’ve reached a milestone. My baby starts school (daycare outside of the home) in three weeks. I am definitely in my feels about it. We’ve been blessed that she’s been cared for primarily by my mom, her dad & I since she was born. The two times that she had to go with others, she went with my cousins (who have raised 4 children of their own and are a little older than me) and my high school bestie. I am excited, but also nervous about expanding her village to include so many people that I don’t know.
After I had her, someone gave me incredible advice. They told me to always remember that she needs to experience the world outside of me.
There are so many different kinds of mothers. As a former educator, I am grateful that I have 20+ years of experience. Having taught, mentored and bonus mama-ed thousands of kids, I learned that they were all unique and required different things from me to nurture their growth.
I carry that spirit into mothering as I learn everyday more about this beautiful soul that I’ve been gifted to love on and raise.
As she starts school, I’ve been thinking about what we’ve taught her. At 2 years old she already knows:
(1) How to advocate for herself. When she asks questions, she has an inflection in her voice. One of the things that she’s scared of is my mom’s clippers. Whenever my mom mentions “clippers,” Millie says “noooooo” or “Don’t do that granny.
(2) How to express her preferences and wants/needs. She regularly says “I don’t like that.” She says “more please.” “Give me that.”
(3) How to express her boundaries. She regularly says “Stop.” “No.” “Stop doing that.” This past weekend I was combing her hair and she said “Mommy, stop doing that.”
(4) How to say her name, her mama’s full government name, and her daddy’s government name, lol. This is a life school. I am grateful that if any asks her who her mama or daddy is, she can tell you! There is something magical about naming a child, and then that child learning to associate that name with their identity. It gives me goosebumps.
The people who say that there isn’t a manual about parenting are liars. Ya’ll know I love a good rabbit hole. Check out this article 400 years of parenting advice. I read some, I listen to podcasts, I talk to other moms, I watch other moms, I talk to her dad, I talk to my mom, I talk to God, I talk to my ancestors, and somewhere at the intersection of all of that is what I actually do.
I am truly enjoying this gift of motherhood and I hope to make more time to reflect, like this. If you follow me on Instagram (@donnienicole84), you can search my hashtag #motheringamelia. I do a lot of microblogging there.
Peace & Love,
Donnie