Great to see you again!! Y'all don't forget to fan me on Facebook, and subscribe to my Examiner articles!

It’s been a while since I participated in Mama Kat‘s Writers Workshop. What the heck, I’ll do it this week again. What can I say? I like the prompts!

So…here goes.

Dear new mom,

You will never be the same again. Your body will be different, your hair will be different, you probably won’t sleep ever again (or at least not really good sleep), and guess what?

You won’t care. (I promise!)

And you forget about how awful labor is. And it really isn’t as bad as they make it out to be in the movies. But you do want an epidural. And once you see the baby, you’re a goner! Some might think they look like aliens, but when it is your little one, they look more beautiful than anything else in the world.

I know people will tell you this one until they are blue in the face, but it is so true: the time goes so quickly. Blink and you miss it. I promise in a year you will look back and wonder where the time went. You say you will cherish every second, and I’m sure you will, but you will *still* wonder why it passed so quickly.

And when they are 5, starting Kindergarten, you will be in the library at the parents breakfast holding back tears. Then Kindergarten will pass by in the blink of an eye, too. You will wonder why time passed so slowly when you were a kid waiting for Christmas, and when you finally want to take time to enjoy every day instead of counting down days, you can’t seem to keep up.

Life is tough that way.

You will never feel like you have made the right decision, because you haven’t. There’s no manual. There are no right decisions. There are only the best decisions for you and your child.

Intuitively, you will know what to do. If you don’t, I’m sure there is a Parenting for Dummies book out there somewhere. Not that you are a dummy if you need to consult that book, no, sometimes the most intelligent thing to do is to get help.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for advice. There are some really smart moms that have learned a lot of things the hard way, and their experience is invaluable! By the same token, you really don’t have to take to heart every piece of advice you hear. Sometimes it is better to ignore advice!

But don’t worry (too much), you will be fine!

Statistically, the majority of women survive labor. So chances are you will too.

Enjoy your little one, and best of luck!
~Lynsey