I Might Be Late to the Party but I’m Still a Mom

I Might Be Late to the Party but I’m Still a Mom

Having your first child in your late 30’s can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be a bit
intimidating. By the time I got started, most of my friends had one if not multiple children. I had been to more baby showers and kids’ birthday parties than I could count! And don’t even get me started on ‘sprinkles.’

Aging and Waiting

The truth is my time came eventually. I just wasn’t at an age that I had ever imagined I’d be. Some of it is circumstantial, I didn’t marry my husband until July of 2020 when I was already almost 35. Then, as luck would have it, we had some trouble getting pregnant, so it took even longer than expected.

Although I felt late to the game, being an older parent has been the biggest blessing to us! We’re both more mature and comfortable in who we are. We ask each other for help and tell each other what we need, especially in those early days when we were both getting by on a wing and a prayer (and absolutely no sleep!). We became a team out of necessity, but the transition seemed seamless.

To Worry or Not to Worry

As an older parent, I’m less worried about some things like breastfeeding and Life 360 but more worried about other things like making my own baby food and my child having a flat head (spoiler alert, she wore a helmet for four months!) Point being, we all worry about different things at different times!

I view myself as a hands-on mom with a more hands-off approach. Think non-helicopter meets waiting in the wings to see what happens. I want my child to succeed but I want her to find independence on her way there. I’m there if she falls but she will fall sometimes. It’s just the way of life and I think being a little bit older when I had her helped me ground myself in this way of thinking.

There are some things that I wish were different, more energy being one of them. I see why some younger people feel like they can have and take on more than one child. I felt
like that when I was younger and would babysit several of my younger cousins on a Friday night. The more the merrier! Bring it on! Sleep, who needs it?! Now, I can never get enough sleep even though our daughter is a great sleeper and has been since she was about eight months old.

Young and Old, We’re All Just Trying to Make It

The bottom line is, no matter how many children someone may have or when they have them, each one starts the whole experience over. The bigger the gap between children, the more stuff has changed. Tried and true baby items have been tossed aside for new and more efficient ones (maybe just better marketing or viral status but who’s to say!) Breast is best has evolved to fed is best. The way of learning and growing is still an ever-changing evolution. There is not one right or wrong way to do it. There’s just a mom’s way and she knows best.