Now I love me some babies. I find nearly everything about them to be absolutely adorable. I love their tiny socks, their fresh new-baby smell (so much better than new car smell), their tiny clothes and their sweet cooing noises.
However. I do not like the first year of babydom.
I've raised three children from babydom now, and I have to say that the first year in a baby's life, while magical and exhilarating, is also the hardest time for me. I often compare those first years to being a prisoner of war.
First, the sleep thing. None of my babies slept well. Every time I heard someone else gloat about how well their baby slept, I wondered what I was doing wrong. Because mine simply didn't want to sleep. Just as I'd drift off to sleep, I'd hear the baby howling for Mommy in the other room, just like an especially adorable torture technique used for POW's everywhere.
Next, the sleep deprivation sets in. After months of never actually reaching that delicious REM sleep, I realize that I've been having a conversation with a houseplant for approximately twenty minutes. Worst part? It's been talking back to me. It's then that I realize I cannot drive anywhere anymore. If I do, it's as bad as if I'm drunk behind the wheel. This effectively imprisons me for the next six to ten months.
Last -- but certainly not least -- the reason that having one of my babies is like being a POW is because not a single one of them could go five minutes without needing something from me. Now, I know that needing something every five minutes is a baby thing, but mine seemed especially unsettled. And no one else could do a thing about it. It had to be me. Every time. Every single time. For a year, I was chained to each of my babies. I don't think I took a bath uninterrupted during that time.
So it was with great glee that I celebrated each of my babies first birthdays. Not just because I love cake, but because I knew that the best was yet to come.
How did you survive baby's first year?
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Comments 95
babyanderson, this is GOLD. Thank you! Couldn't have summed it up better.
"What a bunch of cry babies!! Get over yourselves its a fuckin article not the end of the world. I swear military families think they are owed the world, and its always the wives taking all the credit for the job their HUSBANDS lay their life on the line for. You all knew what you were signing up for when you did it so quit whining. Its getting old."
My grandfather was a prisoner of war in Poland in WWII. I find it truly disgusting that you think it's appropriate to compare the first year of a babies life to being a POW. What on earth makes you think that is appropriate? A POW has no basic human rights, and can be killed without warning. Is your baby going to kill you? I think not. The majority of us have a partner or spouse to help relieve the exhaustion and give us breaks. A prisoner of war is kept in a jail cell. No good food, no shopping, no new baby smell. No human interaction. You need to seriously rethink this "article".
When I think of POWs I think of this:
http://isurvived.org/Pictures_iSurvived-4/buchenwald-prisonersWIESEL.GIF
Not this:
http://thelaughingstork.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/FrustratedMom-300x247.jpg
I am such an asshole military wife...how dare I have a different thought process than a cow who has no idea what sacrifice is.
It's really obnoxious that during wartime you made this comparison. Shameful.
I actually like the first year of life more I had no problem going out with my kids my ds slept better than he does now and best of all he couldn't walk around and get into every damn thing. Now at almost 3 I'm wishing 6 would hurry up so he can be in kindergarden all day.
1) I've come to realize that sensational headlines that often don't accurately depict the story that follows are the norm here but this is ridiculous.
2) Cindy McCain once compared her battle with migraines to being a POW and took alot of flak for it. I am a migraneur but have never felt that way and don't agree with the comparison BUT I defended her. Her husband was a POW and it's something that's as prominent in THEIR lives as the coffee table in our living rooms and that's why she made that connection. I get it. This story is absurd. Even if you lived with a POW, as Cindy McCain does, I think they'd slap you for comparing voluntarily entering into motherhood, numerous times, with being a prisoner of war.
I never waste my time on internet arguing, but I have to do it. You two are so ignorant and probably the kind of people with no lives that sit around and pick fights on the internet in order to keep the blood flowing in your body:
babyanderson, this is GOLD. Thank you! Couldn't have summed it up better.
"What a bunch of cry babies!! Get over yourselves its a fuckin article not the end of the world. I swear military families think they are owed the world, and its always the wives taking all the credit for the job their HUSBANDS lay their life on the line for. You all knew what you were signing up for when you did it so quit whining. Its getting old."
We military affiliates don't think we are owed the world, or own the world, whatever you were too inarticulate to say....but if you detest us so much, get the hell out of the country. Secondly, as a military spouse, I can say that when spouses used to complain that their job was just as hard, I wanted to vomit and slap them. I am very ashamed of that. You can't know until you live that how hard it is to be moved away from everything and everyone you've ever known and care for children all alone while your husband is gone AND in harm's way. It's not just the people in service that sacrifice that make our country great, but the people you don't see that enable their service. If the two of you ever got out of the house, you might learn something.
Baby Anderson- I'm one of those asshole military wives, I suppose. I'm so glad my husband and countless friends are defending your freedom to tell us how you think we're freeloaders and how ALL of us "think we're owed the world". Three kids from my hometown died for your freedom, one just two weeks ago. I'm not going to try to change your mind, because apparently it's already closed. While we're on the subject, here's what I think about you...you're a self centered bitch who has no idea what sacrifice is about. Now, go run back to your hippie friends and tell them how the wicked military wife burned you.
For the writer of the article...I can understand some aspects of the article, trust me, I've felt the effects of sleep deprivation and what it can do to the brain. But, maybe a different title would have been a good idea. You're free to say whatever you want, but right after Veteran's Day was off timing.