For some reason, no matter where we live in the world or what parenting philosophies we subscribe to, there are certain things that we all, as parents, do or have done. There are things that unite us as parents and only when we start comparing notes do we realize, “Hey! We do that, too!” Here are five things you know you do too:
- Check for Breathing — at night you place your hand on your new baby’s chest at least three times to check for breathing. Sometimes, even during the day, you do a quick ‘’breathing check’’.
- Dirty Diaper Sniff Test — you said you wouldn’t do it, but you know you often lift your baby’s bottom to your nose and sniff to see if his/her diaper is dirty. Sometimes, you bring it up a second time to double check and hold it up there so long— power sniffing and trying to see if you should go change it—that you count it as your arm workout for the day.
- Find Crumbs in Baby’s Hair — you typically do everything one handed these days. Sometimes, you wear your baby too. You’re always trying to shovel a quick snack into your mouth before it’s time to feed your little one, and only later do you find the remnants of that quick snack. No matter how hard you try not to spill, you’ve found crumbs and sauce in your little one’s hair—and sometimes on their clothes.
- Fumbled Your Phone Onto Their Head — Because you always have a baby buddy in tow, you’re often checking your phone with one hand while holding or rocking him/her in the other. Mama, many times you’re lying down nursing, holding your phone high above baby’s head. You know that breath catching moment when you fumble your phone and hope it doesn’t land on baby’s head all too well. Most times it doesn’t. Then, one time it does! You feel like the world’s worst parent as you calm your baby’s heartbreaking cry. You swear you’re deleting the Facebook app from your phone, but then you don’t do it.
- Tasted that Drop of Breast Milk — whether you breastfeed or formula feed, you know you’ve tasted that one drop of breast milk out of curiosity. You can’t quite place what it tastes like, so in an attempt to clear up any confusion you taste a second drop. You still don’t quite know what it tastes like, other than it’s sweet. And, you’re still completely grossed out by the fact that you tasted your own milk.
The list of things we, as new parents, do could go on and on. There are some things that are funny and some things that just plain shouldn’t happen, but we all tend to do them at least once. As weird or awful as something is, it’s comforting to know that another parent has almost always done the exact.same.thing!
By Holly M.
BabyChatter Contributor
