Messy business

Feeding a baby turns out to be more demanding than I had anticipated.

Early on breastfeeding, as any mother of young children knows, is very demanding time wise as well as the physical effort it takes. And by the time they turn 6 months and you start feeding them solid, it's an entire different struggle all together.

Today, Mick is a decent eater, she eats most of the food we feed her but I struggle to keep up with all the different types of food she ought to try in order to develop an well-rounded palette for diverse food. I go from being a casual cook to being obsessed with coming up with recipes that can be wiped up last minute. Even though I don't appreciate how expensive healthy, high quality meat and produce cost, I happily fork over our hard-earned cash so that we have a fridge stuffed and ready for the next meal.

Another aspect of feeding that I struggle with continuously is accepting the mess. Yes, the keyword here is ACCEPT! Sure there things one can do to minimize the mess but a toddler is an expert mess creator and she will stop at nothing to ruin her clothes, highchair, the carpet and hair. I am a work in progress, and while I get annoyed with the mess, I have slowed learned to accept the occasional noodle in my hair and delight in finding interesting treasure even sometimes hiding in Mick's diaper.

And every night, I say a little prayer to thank God for Angel, our portable vacuum cleaner, for keeping our carpet reasonable free of food.

The future is never predictable

I hear other parents talk about the terrible t...no not terrible two, but terrible teen years, especially for girls. So far life lesson tells me that the mass is almost always right, collectively we do have bigger wisdom and what the mass experience is usually what an very average individual will experience.

So looking ahead, even though right now I am loving every giggle and wiggling toes, I know that certain day will arrive and you will render me helpless and at times probably make me feel hopeless. My sweet angel McKayla, my baby girl, the love of my life, listen to me carefully. Mommy has been there, raging hormone turned me into a nightmare of sort, at least to your grandparents. So when you are tempted to shut the door on my face and scream for me to leave you alone, know that just by being female, mommy inheritely know what you are going through.

Your path will be unique but I suspect the mass is right, when that day comes when all you see is that boy sitting 2 rows to your right, and black nail polish makes you feel beautiful and unique, and rebelling against your 'boring' and 'annoying' parents is just what you do, I ask that you pause and read this, and while you may not be convinced that I love you, and it seems you will never change your mind, you will. I do love you, and I want you to know that you are truly the apple of my eye and you mean more than the world to me and I will give everything up in a heart beat to make you happy. This phase in life WILL pass, whether it's for better or for worst, that depends on the path we choose for ourselves.

But whatever path you do choose, just believe that someday, you will see just how deeply I love you. Because, you are born to be loved.

Mommy