Mama Always Said...

As my sweet girl inches toward a year (she's eight and half months), I am feeling a little weepy. She is more than I ever dreamed she would be. No one ever told me I would feel this way, and I find it overwhelming. I am so full of emotion as I look back over the past year and a half that I have a hard time even writing this.

While I really loved the newborn stage of Claire's life (I know, weird), I am really digging the six to 12 month stage. She has developed a little sense of humor As of the past month, she finds the following things hilarious: tongues, people with glasses, slobbery smooches from her dog brother Murphy and dog cousins Buddy, Tucker and Malli, getting her diaper changed, dad's red Georgia hat and peekaboo. She has really become this little person with opinion, favorites and personality. While many parents see leaving the house with their child of any age as an exhausting burden, I have really begun to love our outings. As silly as it sounds, I feel like she is my friend. I love teaching her things, and I often catch myself saying the same little catchphrases to her over and over again.

A few weekends ago was Claire's christening. That, coupled with her eight month birthday led me to reflect on some of the things the mothers in my life have said that have stuck with me. Some of them are funny, some serious, but all of them have somehow shaped the mother I have become. Enjoy.


"Lawwwwwwwww..." - My mom, grandmother and aunt all say this when you are telling a story. It's similar to an "Oh my God," but without taking the Lord's name in vain.

"What's it to you, frog face?" - My mother-in-law's suggested response to particularly nosy questions.

"I think you look great. Just maybe a little more blush." - According to my mom, there is no problem that a little blush can't solve.

"Have you fed her prunes yet? Just wait." - My grandmother's warning. She was right.

"I just couldn't imagine helping my child with homework and then raising my shirt for a snack." - A mom who I have become friends with from a play group in response to a woman's comment that the international average age for weaning a child from breastfeeding is FIVE YEARS.

"I have a drink every day at five. There's nothing wrong with it. As long as your child is in the house with you, you're technically not drinking alone." - A mom friend

"Your baby sleeps through the night at eight weeks? You know that means she's going to be a serial killer, right?" - A former boss whose children were teenagers before they slept through the night.

"Why don't you just dip her pacifier in some of that gravy over there? I bet then she'd stop crying." Another pearl of wisdom from my grandmother. I am happy to report that to date and to my knowledge, Claire still has not had any gravy.

"It is hard work - even if sometimes the outside world doesn't see it that way. No one touts a stay at home mom on the Fortune 500 (ah, because we don't make a salary!) But it is exhausting being "on" 24/7, 365. I mean, when I was working at least I got to pee in peace! What I realize is that I've sort of lost my way a bit. I sort of lost the passion I had when I first started this journey. I want to feel that way again. So I made the decision last night, lying there in bed, to rededicate myself to my job. My job as a mother. All the good. All the bad. I want to be there for my children during these years - to be really present in their lives. Because before I know it they are going to be out of my home and off into their own world, doing their own thing, without much of a backwards glance." - a fellow blogger vowing to rededicate herself to her life as a stay at home mom

"She's bringing snuggly back. Yeah! Give her a bottle, and she'll have a snack. Yeah!" - To the tune of Justin Timberlake's song, "I'm Bringing Sexy Back." Ok, my husband said this, but it has defined our parenting style for months now. Parenting can be fun, you know.

"Give yourself a few months. You might be surprised to find that you have changed your mind." My mother-in-law's suggestion when I swore up and down that I would never have another child after having such a difficult pregnancy. I'll admit it. She was right.

"I am proud of you for so many reasons." My mom in an e-mail to me this week. Every child should know that his or her mom is proud of them.

"It's the hardest job you will ever love." Pretty much every mom