5 Things We’ve Learnt as New Parents
6 months of goldie
This week Goldie turned six months old and it only feels like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. I remember people saying to me time flies…. and I can say from experience it goes quicker than that! Our experience so far into parenthood has been really nice despite being locked down for most of it. I think we’ll look back at that time just the four of us (including Edwina our pup) as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bond as a really tight little unit.
In this blog post Al and I share our top five things we’ve learnt as new parents.
We can do hard things.
Goldie was babysat this week for a couple of hours the very first time since she was born and it made me realise how much juggling Al and I have been doing for the past six months. Caring for Goldie while running (and growing) our business has had its moments but for the most part it’s shown us that we can do hard things. I love this saying “we can do hard things” I met a woman who told me that’s her family motto. When her children say “they can’t” she responds with “we can do hard things”. I’m going to keep that one in my back pocket for when Goldie is old enough to understand, but for now it’s a pretty good one for me and Al!
Everything is temporary.
Whether we’re going through a really challenging week or an unbelievably smooth week (you know the ones where you feel like you’re just nailing it as a parent) I try to remember that everything is temporary and to embrace that moment right there.
It is very easy to get anxious about what’s to come, especially apps notifying you trouble is coming AKA developmental leaps.
Like they say (and by they I mean every parent ever and your Instagram algorithm when you’re pregnant or a new parent) -
“The days are long but the years are short”.
Communication is key.
When pregnant I read so many booked about birth, feeding and development and I missed one of the most challenging parts of becoming a new parent - the relationship change with your partner.
We were lucky that our local council ran a program for new parents that focused just on this, we did prompting activities around communication as new parents, expectations and acknowledging that things have in-fact changed.
This has hands down been the most useful information and guidance so far in our parenting journey. I highly recommend to anyone entering the world of parenting to do some work on the relationship with your partner - put all of your fears and struggles on the table and come up with strategies together. Then give each other a really long hug.
Make the effort to make memories.
The days where we’ve broken our routine and done something new as a family have been the best memories yet. The logistics around travelling with a baby can at times feel just too f*cking hard but from our experience so far it’s always worth it. For example when Goldie was 5 weeks old one of our friends was moving to Norway and had a going away dinner in Chinatown. All dressed, we jumped into the car and started driving into the city, five minutes in Goldie started crying (like really crying). At first we just tried to calm her down but she was really upset, Al wanted to turn the car around and go home but I was like “hell no, I want to see my friends we’ve got this!” we pulled over on the side of the road and I fed her, we spent time calming her down and got her back in the car. We decided to still go into town and if it didn’t work the worst that would happen is that we turn around and go home. We ended up having a great night and Goldie slept the entire time we were out.
The love is overwhelming.
I knew we were going to love our baby but the love is sooo much more than we could have ever imagined.
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Hey!
We’re Al + Imo
We’re a husband and wife duo, building our dream life one DIY project at a time. We are proudly self-taught, furniture-makers, business owners, designers and stylists.
DIY RUNS IN OUR DNA
We firmly believe what you learn should be shared which is why we created our Journal. A place where you can learn new skills and be inspired by other creatives.
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