At it’s core this project is about helping mom’s feel normal. Many new moms are so unprepared for motherhood that they are blindsided by their experience. Caring for newborns is deeply demanding. Becoming a mother also means a significant identity shift that can be accompanied by some emotional ups and downs.
For those of you with a new baby in arms you may be wondering how things will go this winter. If you are in the Northeast, like we are, you are probably crossing your fingers that this mild weather will continue and that you will not be shut in your house for the next four months.
I had a long drive by myself last week and I took advantage of the opportunity to listen to a book on tape, uninterrupted by a baby demanding my attention. Isn’t it amazing how 7 hours in the car suddenly sounds luxurious when you get to do it alone? It was actually a pretty enjoyable trip, due in large part to the entertainment. I’ve been wanting to read Bossy Pants by Tina Fey for a while, and finally got a copy of the audio book for my drive. If you haven’t read or listened to this book I highly recommend it. It’s hilarious, witty, and sometimes even illuminating. What made me think about my work with NMP was Tina’s discussion of the rules of improv.
Raise your hand if you had some ideas about the type of parent you were going to be before you had a baby. My hand is way up high in the sky. I had a lot of ideas about the kind of mother I was going to be. I also had a lot of ideas about what I would think about being a mom. Namely, I thought I would really like it and feel like a rock star. No one had really described to me, in a way I could hear, how humbling and challenging being a parent can be.