My advice to a new mom

Some of my friends are new moms, some are about to be new moms. They have a lot of questions. Not surprising, since I'm an "old mom" and still have plenty of questions. Sometimes they ask about what they're feeling and "is this normal"? Other times they want to know "What's the best way to...?" And I gladly answer, because it's nice to be in the same time zone with most of the people I love. Or at least, sharing a continent. I'd never consider myself any sort of expert; I have no formal training, just two kids that have survived and seem pretty happy most of the time.

But if I could only offer one single piece of advice to all my new moms and moms-to-be, it wouldn't be about breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding. It wouldn't have anything to do with a sleep schedule, sleep training or sleep techniques. I wouldn't talk about my feelings on cloth diapers and disposable diapers. I wouldn't suggest when to start solids, stop swaddling, or how to handle teething.

Write everything down.

That's it. My one, solid, foolproof piece of advice that can apply to every child. You see, I've been a mom of two for almost six months now. And the one thing I know to be absolutely certain, is that every child is different. Different personalities, different habits, different ways of doing things even straight out of the womb. But I know for sure, if you don't write it down you'll forget.

I have a blog for me. I love that other people read it, and enjoy it and sometimes take something from it. But in the end, it's for me. Because a million things happen every week and I'm certain I'll remember all of them. But then I go back to a blog from when Hayden came home from the hospital and I find that I've forgotten so much. I flip through his baby book and realize I forgot how much he loved bananas at a year old, and that he used to squeal at the top of his lungs for no reason at all. I know that right now, I love the time in the middle of the night after I feed Lila, that she snuggles against my chest and takes a big deep breath before she goes to sleep. But in two years, when she's independent and potty training and learning new words, I'll probably forget. Right now, Hayden's favorite show is Team Umizoomi, and in five years when it's babyish, I won't remember how he yells "Super shapes!" with delight.

So write it down. Keep a journal, update a baby book, blog until your fingers hurt. But I promise, you'll forget the date you felt your baby move, yet you might not forget that the first time you felt him move, you were on the phone with his dad who was 3000 miles away in Afghanistan.