leftunspoken's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things I know Things I know as a woman: Thirtsomething is better than twentysomething any day of the week. You might miss the abandon and wildness of youth, but what you gain in loving yourself and knowing yourself is way more valuable. Believing "laugh lines" are lovely on someone else, and believing they are lovely on you are two different things. Thin is nice; happy and indulged are better. A hot shower or a long walk will cure almost anything. Sisters, by birth or by love are the best thing ever. Things I know as a lover/partner/wife: What men say and what they mean are rarely the same. When he is yelling at you for something you're pretty sure you didn't do, it probably has something to do with his mother. You should ask for what you want/need instead of hinting. What you see when you look at yourself naked in the mirror, and what he sees when you are naked in his arms are two totally different things. You can love someone madly, and still want to poke him in the leg with your fork, or throw something at his head occasionally. This does not mean you don't belong together. (Just don't actually do it.) Things I know as a mother: All the little things that used to worry you aren't that big a deal. (Of course, instead, you will worry about new things. Like whether the baby's head is flat, and whether you are sufficiently stimulating all the little connections in his brain, and SIDS, and whether you are "doing it right", and "it" will be everything.) Most of the things you worry about will never happen or are still not that big a deal. The things that do happen and are big are in God's hands anyway. Every time you blink, they grow-up a little. This is how it works no matter how unfair it seems. A clean house is nice; rocking a baby is better. Breastfeeding hurts bad enough that you want to (and may actually) bite a towel and scream each time, but only for the first couple of weeks. Every book you read on the subject will call this "discomfort". After it stops hurting it's lovely and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Books lie. Babies are the most fabulously charming people. If they weren't, you might seriously reconsider getting up three times a night to feed them, and change them, and rock them, and generally convince them nights are for sleeping. When a baby smiles at you, you wonder why you didn't always wake up at 3 a.m. to walk around the living room singing. 11:23 a.m. - December 09, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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