Welcome to round four of Coffee with New Moms!
I am so glad to welcome Landen to the series! She is the author of Measure and Whisk, a mostly food blog (with the most mouth-watering photos), plus glimpses into the life of her beautiful family, especially her adorable 7-month-old son. She is also super well-traveled, as you’ll see below! I really enjoyed her post on the secrets of French women. You will definitely relate to this guest post she has written on weighing out mom advice, and going forward with confidence, even with a new little one in the mix! Enjoy!
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Motherhood and Me
When someone finds out you’re having a baby, one of the first things they will say–after congratulating you–goes something like this: “Make sure you get out as much as you can now, because it will be so much harder once you have a baby.” I thought about this advice a lot, wondering if I would ever be able to go anywhere once we had our baby.
Right after baby Fox was born, I felt completely incapable of going anywhere. With or without him, I just didn’t want to leave the apartment. When we came home from the hospital it took 5 days for me to set foot out of our apartment, aside from a compulsory doctor’s visit. After a few days, I realized it would get easier if I took that first step and tried going out. After a few successful runs to the grocery store, the library, and the doctor’s office, I slowly gained confidence in going out with our baby.
While this confidence was building, another adventure was quickly approaching that had me nervous on a whole new level. A few weeks prior to our baby being born, we found out that my husband’s job wanted him to go to France for seven weeks over the summer. One week in Paris and six weeks in central France. We love to travel, and had decided that we wanted to go as a family, but the closer we got to departure, the more I dreaded taking our newest little family member with us. I had heard lots of horror stories about traveling overseas with an infant: diaper explosions, endless crying, exhausted parents, and angry stares. A somewhat nervous traveler already, I got more and more apprehensive as our departure loomed. When the time came to leave, I held my breath and we headed off.
If you have ever visited a foreign city without a baby and then with one, you know that the two experiences are completely different. My first time in France meant lots of meandering down winding cobbled streets, late night dinners and views from the Eiffel Tower. This time my schedule was more focused on naptimes, nursing, and early bedtimes, but I was happily surprised at how much we were able to see and how much fun Fox and I had traipsing around Europe.
I bought a baby carrier prior to our going, so I would strap him on, and we would head off to see the Arc de Triomphe or climb all the stairs in the towers of Notre Dame. We saw the lock bridges, the oldest tree in Paris, and the Latin Quarter where I got some of the worst ice cream of my life.
As our trip progressed, we went to the Alps and saw glaciers, his first experience with non-bathtub water was in the Mediterranean Sea, he ate fresh strawberries from the French countryside, and became a pro at navigating the metro system. It was the experience of a lifetime. Maybe I didn’t get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight, or take a dinner river cruise on the Seine, but we had a wonderful time, and it was that much better for having my baby along to enjoy it.
My husband and I both love traveling and we hope to instill this love in our children. Scary though the idea may have been beforehand, I’m so glad we took the plunge and went, because it was worth it. He may not remember our French experience as he grows up, but I will, and I’ll never regret having brought him with us. Now that we’re back in the United States, the grocery store seems like a cinch. After all, I took him to the Alps.
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