being a mom
It’s Okay To Admit That New Motherhood Isn’t All Sunshine And Roses
As someone who gives parenting advice for a living, it’s hard to decide what is necessary and what isn’t when it comes to preparing someone for a new baby. Every woman reacts differently to the birth of a child. I had a very hard time after my first was born. I was much happier after I had my second. But when I write about postpartum stuff, I usually talk more about the difficulties I had. Why? Because I feel like women who are feeling the way I was feeling after I had my first child simply need more emotional support than those who are totally over the moon.
I just simply do not connect with parenting essays that are all sappy and sunshine and roses. I think it’s fantastic if you do, but those essays can actually be kind of damaging to women who are in a fragile emotional state after the birth of their kids. It’s why I choose to focus on commiserating instead of talking about how amazing my baby smells (which by the way, she did smell incredible).
I’m thinking about this today because Tracy Moore from Jezebel wrote a pretty funny rebuttal to one of those super sappy new mom stories. The original story is called “They Should’ve Warned Me.” Moore’s rebuttal is called “Very Blessed New Mom Wishes She Had Been Warned More About Blessings.” It’s worth the look simply for the fantastic GIF of a rainbow shooting out of a mother’s neck as she strokes her unicorn baby. Seriously, who made this GIF? It’s perfect.
