Like most moms, I have gotten a lot of advice about raising a child. The beauty of advice is that you can take it… or leave it. While advice is sometimes just judgement in disguise, some of this advice can actually be pretty helpful!
One day when my baby was tiny, I drove to have lunch with my husband and his friend, and the friend’s family. I had been staying in the house a lot and I suspected my husband was trying to get me out a bit. While we were there, my baby got hungry and I realized I didn’t have a cover to breastfeed. I had actually forgotten half of my supplies at home, but that’s just another sleep deprivation story. My husband’s friend’s wife went to their car and got me a blanket and all was well. She had children and offered me this advice: “Always carry a blanket in your car. I’ve been doing it for 12 years. You’ll need it.”
Of all the mom advice I’ve gotten, this was probably the most helpful. I did what she suggested. Over the last 4 years since then, the blankets were used for so many things. Some include keeping many people warm over the years, soothing a crying child who needed something soft to hug, wiping up a spill on the go when it was bad and paper towels weren’t enough, as a substitute for a forgotten stuffed animal, as shade over an irritated little one’s head, something to spread on the grass during a 3 year old’s soccer game, for wrapping up wet beach clothes when we forgot the plastic bag, covering a little 2 year old who didn’t make it to a restroom while traveling during those potty training months, and even to dry off a wet kiddo after a surprise rainstorm. Our family was on the go quite a lot, which meant we were in the car often. No matter how well prepared you are, things get forgotten. Once, the blanket was used as the only thing covering the baby after a blowout in a store until we could purchase new clothing for her. Yes, we had already used the spare clothing. 2 blowouts in one afternoon isn’t unheard of unfortunately!
Sometimes it is the little things that matter. This may not be the most helpful advice for you. But we all have that advice that stuck with us, or that saved us a time or two.
What advice did you get from another mom that you’d like to pass on?