DEAR M
Dear Sis
YOU’RE ABOUT TO BECOME A MOTHER!!! RUN! RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!
Kiddin’. ( Sort of…)
Plus of course you can’t run anywhere at 38 weeks pregnant. You can barely waddle to the loo, let alone flee for the hills.
Jokes aside, I’ve been thinking about what I should say to you before Daniel Nicholas arrives. Mostly it’s stuff I wish someone had said to me before I stepped onto PLANET PARENTING. Never to return again to PLANET ME. EVER. NEVER-EVER-EVER-EVER.
And step onto a different planet you will do, dear sis.
It’ll be a strange land. With strange, ever changing rules. Unpredictable weather patterns with nights and days more scrambled than your average breakfast egg. You’ll be dizzy from lack of sleep. You’ll worry over each and every sniff/ breath/ nappy/feed. You’ll marvel over tiny fingers and tiny toes. You’ll feel skin softer than anything you’ve ever experienced. Your heart will stop and it will beat faster and it’ll get squeezed right out of your chest.
It’ll be frightening and beautiful and AWWWW, CUTE ! and GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW BEFORE I HANG YOU FROM THE WASHING LINE BY YOUR TOES!!!
So here are my thoughts on what you should do before D Day:
1. SLEEP. Anywhere, anytime, for as long as you want to. YOU WILL NEVER IN YOUR LIFETIME SLEEP LIKE THIS AGAIN. Or at least not until you’re senile and being looked after by nurses. Now there’s something to look forward to…
2. READ. A whole book. With your feet up and a cup of tea in your hand. YOU WILL NEVER READ LIKE THIS AGAIN.
3. BATH. A loooooooooooooong one. YOU WILL NEVER BATH LIKE THIS AGAIN.
4. EAT. Slowly. Appreciate every bite. Really chew and enjoy. YOU WILL NEVER EAT THIS SLOWLY AGAIN.
5. LOOK AT THE FATHER-OF-THE-CRIME. Appreciate him. Tell him you love him and only him. Remember why you made this baby. YOU WON’T BE HAVING LINGERING ROMANTIC MOMENTS for a very loooooooong time. Also, talk. Talk now and forever hold your peace. Talk before a tiny little man takes over both of your hearts like a tornado….
Yes, you’ve read all the books and the magazines and you’ve googled yourself dizzy.
But here’s the thing :
NOTHING can prepare you for the real thing.
It’s all moment-by moment really.
So be prepared to be unprepared.
Be prepared for a change of plan.
Be brave. Be still. Breathe. Believe.
I’ll be there, day or night. Just pick up the phone.
If I could do it, you most certainly can. And hey, my two are both clean and fed and fast asleep in their own beds….just a pity their father has fallen asleep in the bed next to his son never to wake again till sunrise tomorrow morning. No romance happening then.
Can’t have it all, now can you?
CINDERELLA TRIPPIN' 