Five and a half weeks in, I still love spending my days with my baby. I think a big part of that is being okay with taking each day on its own terms as it comes. At 10am I might think it will be a super productive day, but at 3pm I’m staring at the exact same to-do list I started with. On the other hand, at 10 am I might resign myself to a day with nothing accomplished apart from the continued survival of my offspring, only to be happily surprised at 3pm to have grocery shopped and done laundry. I’m learning over and over that you never can tell quite what a day will bring.
Of course, some days do match my expectations in terms of what gets done, and I’ve found so far that most weeks have a mix of “good” days and get-dressed-at-4pm-get-spat-up-on-at-4:02 days. If nothing else, motherhood will train you to roll with the punches. For me, staying happy (for the most part) has been really wrapped up in holding my hopes with open hands and being pleasantly surprised if they stay there. One of the biggest challenges I faced as a new wife was putting huge expectations on myself that I couldn’t live up to; I’m trying really hard to avoid that as a new mom.
So my current expectations are simple and flexible: basically, go with the flow. There will be days when all I accomplish are heavy arms and an aching back, and there will be days when the baby wakes up hungry while I’m baking and it’s no big deal.
Whatever kind of day it is, I’m doing my best to embrace it with as much joy as I embrace the baby who runs the show!