It takes a village

I am so incredibly in love with my baby. Harley and I have bonded so much and I am loving being her mom. I adore her little smiles and all the sounds she makes, and we are having tons more fun together. Of course, it’s still a lot of hard work, and that’s where our “village” helps so much.

I’m lucky enough to have awesome friends and family who want to play an active role in Harley’s life. It is so great to be able to pop over to Stacey (her god mother) for a glass of wine – not only do I get to drink a glass of wine, but I don’t have to worry while Stacey holds the munchkin. The same goes for when we visit Dean’s family – they are all so madly in love with Harley, all I have to do is feed her and they are happy to take care of the rest. And now my mom is finally coming on Wednesday; I am so excited to see her, and so excited to see her with Harley.

The fact is, I spend pretty much all day every day with Harley. I’m her mom and that’s my job. But even I get tired of her, no matter how much I love her. I get tired of having another body on me all the time, needing me all the time. And Dean is great and often plays with her in the evening so that I can take a long shower, or eat dinner, or just have time in my own head with my own body. But having more people helps that much more. It’s such a relief that when we go visit his family, I can basically be “off duty” unless she’s hungry or really needs me. The same goes for when we visit certain friends. And with my mom coming, I think it will make my day-to-day life that much easier to have another person who loves her around to take care of her.

Harley continues to get easier and more fun, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still need the village of people in her life. I’m excited to start swimming classes with her, especially because her grandpa is crazy about wanting to go swimming with her. And she seemed enthralled by the TV when rugby was on this weekend, so I’m sure her godfather will love teaching her about that. There are so many people in her life who love her and can teach her more stuff than I’d be able to. I mean, sure, if she becomes a rugby fanatic I’ll get into it with her. But it’s way better to have someone on hand who can support that interest from the start. I’ll be able to focus on those things I excel at with her, and leave some of the other encouraging and fun stuff to the other people in her life.

I’m so glad that Harley and I have bonded. It just means that I’m that much more comfortable when other people want to hold her or have time with her – I know that Harley knows who her mommy is, and that I love her and am always there for her. But there’s no harm in her having tons of other people in her life who love her. The more love, support and nurturing she can get, the better.

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