From your very first day as a new parent, you seem destined to struggle with the feelings of guilt that come as part of the deal. Am I doing enough? Am I a good parent?
Relax; you’re already doing more than enough.
Also read! 8 reasons you’re a great mom
You’re a superhero because…
- You read hundreds of bedtime stories.
- Or ONE story hundreds of times.
- You change thousands of diapers.
- And cautiously ‘investigate’ even more.
- And often end up with the nasty surprises inside (yes, the number twos) all over your hands, especially when washing your hands straight away is not an option.
- You change diapers in your car (badly parked after coming to a screeching halt)/at the beach (under a barrage of disapproving stares)/in the stroller at a restaurant with no baby changing facilities/in filthy public bathrooms and in many other theoretically impossible places.
- You get your child to fall asleep. Every night.
- And back to sleep another 5-15 times before morning (and anything after about 4 a.m. counts as ‘morning’ to a baby).
- You comfort your baby and breastfeed/bottle-feed them every night. Despite your own severe and chronic exhaustion.
- You abandon your freshly brewed coffee as soon as your child cries or calls for you. Even though the thought of that coffee was the ONLY thing keeping you going.
- You somehow extract enough sustenance to power through the next 12 hours from a mouthful of leftover baby food, half a cup of coffee (cold, naturally) and two lint-covered pieces of hard candy you found in your pocket.
- You manage to fit everything you need (plus a little more) into your diaper bag. Despite the above-mentioned exhaustion and sporadic nutritional intake.
- And if you do forget anything, there is no stopping your ingenious improvisation. Baby bodysuit + water = baby wipe to remove poo. Baby hat + water = also a baby wipe to remove poo.
- You learn the subtleties of a foreign language called ‘crying’ in record time. All by yourself. Without any classes or dictionaries.
- You take care of a tiny newborn person AT THE SAME TIME as you recover from pregnancy and childbirth. Superpowers, dear parent, superpowers.
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Share this list! Many parents don’t realize that they perform superhero acts every day.