A friend’s mom recently asked me to write a couple paragraphs of advice for new parents for a book for my friend who is having her first child. While I was happy to contribute, I don’t feel at all qualified to provide anyone advice. I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time!
The following was what I finally managed to come up with. Inappropriate? Of course. I didn’t want to just say the same old things. Hopefully it helps her though or at least provides a laugh. (I think she’s just as quirky as I am, or at least was in high school.) I figured I’d share it here because I haven’t gotten to blog recently as we’ve been traveling (thanks Delta) and LB was quite sick for a week (thanks 2 docs who prescribed Z pack which is now ineffective against almost everything).
Advice for New Parents
I won’t give you the traditional advice, because you can just Google that and likely already have! What I want to share with you is something that has gotten me through many long sleepless nights and sometimes crazy daytime behavior that is mystifying to anyone but a toddler. Babies are just small, drunk people.
Toddlers stumble around, are constantly changing their minds, love everyone but get frustrated incredibly easily. They don’t know what they want, and you’ll often have to convince them to drink some water or lay down and rest. You also can’t understand a thing they are saying. But just like your college friends, you’ll step up and do what you can to help them feel better/keep them safe. Unlike your friends (hopefully), they’ll pull this shit on you every day for a year (or 2 or 3). But they’re so cute when they’re happy that you’ll forget the hard times. And when they’re being crazy, just think “this too shall pass”.
Newborns have it worse. What is it like to be born? It’s probably similar to recovering from the worst hangover. The lights are too bright, everyone is talking too loudly, the room is too cold, and they have no idea where they are or how they got there. Plus, they’re hungry but eating makes them spit up. The best thing to do is help them sleep it off. Treat the first three months as a “fourth trimester” and then they’ll really be ready to tackle the world!
Belle Auguri 
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