I am with you—in the heaviness and the lightness. I just want you to know that. You're not alone, and I know I'm not either. And sometimes, that's what we need to know most of all.
Some feel anger, or fear but there is this other thing, too. Action.
30. Hire a sitter and do whatever you want.
When a situation makes you uncomfortable, you can leave, no matter how young or old you are.
"I'm not running in spite of my daughter; I'm running because of my daughter," says Caitlin Clarkson Pereira.
Feeling emotionally drained by debt?
There is plenty of love to go around in our house. But when she runs around me to get to my husband when we come home from a date night, it stings.
Being your mother has shown me the immense power of women.
Oh, what I wouldn't give for a tiny incident of a kindergartener packing a bag and stomping off in a tantrum.
You feel everything so deeply, so it's hard not to notice. You wear your heart on your sleeve about almost everything.
During the waiting, time changes shape. I can wait for half an hour and think it's been five minutes, and it happens the other way around too. I always feel like I should be using my time more productively, but I'm afraid to make a sound and I can't focus on anything anyways.
While sometimes it can feel selfish or even indulgent to take time for ourselves, no one wants a sad, broken mama. We need to take time to do the things that heal us.
Working parents are stronger when their working environments allow them to be whole people. Sometimes, that means a baby is coming to a meeting. Even if it's at the UN.
"I know how tough it is some days to look with hope and confidence on the months and years ahead," he said in his farewell broadcast. "But I would like to tell you what I often told you when you were much younger. I like you just the way you are."
15. "You've made this day a special day by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you. And I like you just the way you are."
Spoiler alert: My mom.
2. Cook anything other than toast
I wasn't sure how to accept and make sense of my new identity.
If I spent all my time dreading the "wait untils" or worrying about the next difficult thing around the corner, when would I have time to enjoy all the wonderful, amazing, incredible things that a child brings to a parent's life?