Skip to Content

Now vs Then

I am not the same mom I was when they handed me my first baby in the hospital. I was terrified. 
She was so tiny. When it was time to go home The drive home from the hospital to our house might as well of been like those car commercials where they drive on crazy terrain and then in small print it says, closed course or a professional driver was used and to not try this yourself.

The truth to the matter is that we lived 5 minutes away. But who knew what was out there. How was I supposed to protect this tiny baby from everything in the world?

I read lots of books. So many that every thing made me super paranoid all of the sudden every little rash or anything out of the ordinary could be something serious. I spent a lot of time calling the Dr. and stressing 

over my little baby and driving my husband completely crazy.

I have three kid’s now and while I am far from being a seasoned pro I react quite differently to the same situations. no longer am I so paranoid about my toddler eating something that barely fell on the floor. Every sneeze and sniffle doesn’t require a trip to the Dr’s office. I try not to read baby books cover to cover I try and to just look up the information  that I need to know. I definitely try to google things less. because google can make anyone super paranoid about anything!

I am glad that through experiences we can learn and feel more comfortable being parents. I also love how much wonderful information we can get from others to help us out when we are ready to tear all our hair out.

But don’t ask me if I am ready for the teenage years. You would get a resounding NO WAY for that one!

How have you changed as a parent throughout the years?

Carly is a contributing writer for Mommy Moment. She has 3 very dramatic but beautiful girls ages 7, 4, and 1. Carly loves to write, cook, and connect with other moms through this crazy thing called blogging! See what she has been up to over at www.livingthescream.com. Picture in post form Wikimedia commons license. 

Never miss a post, Subscribe.

If you haven’t voted, we would love your vote in this contest. Just click this link   http://ow.ly/44rHS and in the comment section of that post write that you vote for #12 Mommy Moment.
Voting ends on March 11th, 2011. Thanks so much for your support in sending Jody to Blissdom Canada.

Better Than The Bully

Monday 14th of March 2011

Haha, I like the part where you say you get paranoid from the books. I get paranoid from Google. Every little thing you look up, seems to be a horrible disease and from there, every little symptom is proof for it. The cure for this: don't Google OR don't believe everything you read. Instead, just wait. :)

Ludicrous Mama

Thursday 10th of March 2011

My husband was (is) that way too. I heard a joke once, about how when baby drops a pacifier on the floor, a first-time parent washes and sanitizes it before giving it back to the baby. A mom of 2 rinses it off in the sink first. A mom of 3 licks it clean or just doesn't bother. A mom of 4 either kicks it back to the baby, or lets them get it back themselves from the dog!

Other than the occasional panic when I don't actually KNOW what to do, I've always been more of a third-time mom, even though I only have one. "If you can hear her choking and coughing, it means she's getting air. She's not choking to death." "What did you just put in your mouth off the floor? Was that cat poo? A toy? No? Okay, you can eat it." "Eh. It takes 30 seconds to drown in the tub unattended. I've got another 15 seconds. More, if she isn't actually drowning!"

The Education Of Ours

Wednesday 9th of March 2011

I may be the same. I can't come up with a way I'm different. So weird! Maybe I'm just seasoned now?

va_grown

Wednesday 9th of March 2011

"I'm not the same mom that I was when I left the hospital..." Boy that's the truth! :)

I get frustrated now because I won't pretend to know it all, but when I call the dr and say my son was just in there with pink eye and now my daughter has it, I know what I'm talking about. I DON'T need to bring them in for you to exam and confirm. I've been at this mothering thing for a while now, trust me. But they don't.

I think I take their health more in stride now and also, I'm more casual about things like what I need in the diaper bag (1 bag for 3 kids now, rather than 3 bags for 1 kid like before!) and what I NEED as "gear." --almost nothing. :)