Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The New Mom 'Look'


On my drive home from work today, I saw a new mom pushing her stroller down the street. I am assuming she is a new mother because the stroller had an attached infant seat. There were other clues as well. It was close to 5 pm and a chilly, breezy 35 degrees. She was walking briskly and had a certain look on her face. I know that look. That look is called, “My-baby-only-stops-crying-on-stroller-rides-so-this-is-our-third-stroller-ride-today look.” Or, it could possibly be, “It-is-the-5-o-clock-colic-witching-hour-and-this-is-the-last-trick-up-my-sleeve look.” If not one of those, then it must be, “I-will-get-out-of-this-house-dammit-even-if-it-means-taking-a-stroller-ride-in-35-degree-Colorado-weather look.” And, the very last thing I would put any money on would be, “I’ll-lose-this-weight-one-way-or-another-even-if-it-means-three-stroller-rides-a-day look.” I keep referring to “three” stroller rides a day because that is about what I did every single day of maternity leave myself. And, any one of those previously described “looks” could have been an accurate reason for that particular stroller ride. Now, of course I also see mothers here and there jogging with their “jogging strollers.” They have a look of, “This is easy, nothing to it. In fact, I have a better body NOW than I did before a baby.” Well, I simply do not relate to that mother. And that is OK. We all own our own experiences – to each her own, right? It just helps to know that there are other mothers out there that have had similar experiences to yours. It may not be the experience you had thought you would have, or it may be just as you intended, but it’s yours. It’s fun to look back, with a smile on my face, and feel gratitude for how far I’ve come. My son grew out of his colic eventually, I only take walks outside with my son if it is warm enough and not for any other desperate reason, and I can chase around a toddler or even choose a workout video (a couple times a month) in order to try and lose that “baby” weight. Life just keeps looking up!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I absolutely LOVE reading these. . . I am going to start forwarding them to some of my other friends! You have such a gift! Keep em coming. . . Natalie

Mommy X said...

Honey, I am still waiting to lose that baby weight...the problem I have is that it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere no matter how much I sit around and hope it will. LOL! I had to comment on that one. In other words, I do not relate to the jogging stroller mom either but more power to her. I certainly remember those days of taking the stroller out to help feel like a normal person just strolling along without a care in the world. Kind of miss those days....but not THAT much.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I like yours, too. XO

Patricia said...

I miss those days of when they'd just sleep peacefully in their stroller. would you believe we used to walk our first in her stroller every night around the inside of our house to get her to sleep. It was great, we'd just roll the stroller into her room and shut the door. Probably did that for 2 months. Whatever works to get some sleep. *L*