What I’ve Learned from Being a Mom

2012 is already gaining momentum, but before we get too, I wanted to take a quick look at what I learned in 2011 from my first full year as a mom.

• Being a full-time mom is a very challenging career. And even though I thought it was the career I wanted, turns out that’s not the case. It took me almost the full year to come to a balance that works for us, 3 days at Day Care, 2 days with mom and the weekend with mom and dad.
• Kids can be stubborn. And frustrating. Especially when they are still not able to properly communicate what they want most of the time.
• Kids can also be hilarious and laugh at the silliest things, like a good game of pee-a-boo.
• The house is never going to be as clean as I would like it to be. And that’s ok.
• Have a child is stressful on the relationship with your partner. It takes more work than before to keep that part of my life in check. Date night has to be NON-NEGOTIABLE!
• It’s ok to let my husband be a dad and to step back and let him take care of things.
• That patience is essential for sanity and taking a step back once in a while, taking a deep breath and counting to 10, can be very helpful.
• It’s easy to smile when your child gives you a hug and a kiss.
• Being a mom finally helped me to understand many of the challenges my mom friends had in their lives.
• And finally, that there aren’t enough words in any language to describe how much I love my daughter and how much it grows every day.

I would love to hear from you about some of the things you’ve learned this year as a mom or dad. Check in on the comments below.