I've been dreaming of babies lately. Maybe it is because I've been thinking a lot about when I first became a mom. I can hardly remember not being a mom. Things sure were different back then.
I took my tiny, nearly 5 lb. bundle home two days after her birth. The newborn outfit I dressed her in looked 2 sizes too big. It's a good thing this was back in the day before car seats. The straps would have wrapped around her clothing and she would have slipped right out of both. Instead, after flopping in the front seat,the nurse placed her in my arms and we were off to be a family of 3.
I thought life would go back to normal upon returning home. I'd no longer waddle around. Energy would abound. I could bend in the middle again and see my toes. I was lighter on my feet. But I didn't really gain back my body. The baby merely shifted from the inside to the outside. She still clung to my middle, but now I needed my arms to hold onto her. Maybe it had been easier letting my belly do the work.
The second thing that changed was the other adult in the house sold my car. I couldn't drive to my mother's to wash our clothes for free. The laundromat was 2 blocks away. I'd been there before. This wouldn't be so bad. I didn't realize how much laundry one tiny baby could generate. How was I going to drag bags of dirty clothes & detergent while carrying a baby? The man had a motorcycle to get to and from work. A load of clothes didn't pack well on the back of a bike. In today's world, I would have figured out a way to do it. But back then, I just accepted this as normal.
My first attempt at laundry, I managed 1 load. All baby clothes and blankets. The man decided I could get more done if maybe I had a stroller. So he began the hunt for a used stroller. I never even wondered how he was going to get it home once he found one. I was just happy at the thought of having another set of arms in the form of a moving baby bed. My arms would be free again.
6 comments:
fascinating! all the things new moms 'can't live without' were not even thought of "back in the day"- yet you somehow survived!
great post!
I can't imagine trying to take laundry AND a new baby to the laundromat, even if it was only 2 blocks away. It would have been so hard to not have a car. What if there was an emergency and you had to take the baby to the doctor? I'm sure your parents would have helped, they were just a phone call away. But you didn't have a phone!! Oh my goodness, I will never ever ever complain again about anything. I am seeing just how good and easy I have it, now. I'm not saying that to brag, it's more a response to shame for any time I complained that I "just never get a break" or "life is so rough." No, it's not for me. I never had to struggle like you did. I don't know what struggling is. I hope you keep telling your story!!
Ann, this is one of the reasons I like to look back. I see where I was and where I am now and am ever so much more thankful.
When I think back on all the things we did without, I am amazed at how happy I was in spite of it. And a little chagrinned (sp?) when I consider that I would be hard pressed to be joyful if I had to go back to such "deprivation"!
When I think back on all the things we did without, I am amazed at how happy I was in spite of it. And a little chagrinned (sp?) when I consider that I would be hard pressed to be joyful if I had to go back to such "deprivation"!
Huh. How'd that happen?
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