When you get pregnant, everyone is full of
unsolicited advice. Some of it is bad, for example: “Sleep when the baby
sleeps”… They mean well with this one, but it’s frustrating. Should I
also do dishes when the baby does dishes? Should I do laundry when the baby
does laundry? (You get the point.) But, seriously, you should sleep when you
can, it just doesn’t work EXACTLY like that. 🙂
Now, I have a friend who has given me the same
piece of parenting advice since I got pregnant. And, it’s the best:
“Everything is a
phase”
In the first few months, I couldn’t hear the
advice. I was too worried about “failing” at everything… I didn’t
know what to do when the baby had hiccups, I didn’t want to sleep (in case
something happened), I couldn’t breastfeed and would spend hours in agony about
it… and it felt like it would never end. But, she was right, it was just a
phase…
The baby wanted a bottle every hour and half.
But, it was just a phase…
Around one, he decided he hated bath time.
But, it was just a phase…
He started having night terrors. But, it was
just a phase…
He loved his pacifier. But, it was just a
phase…
He would
“coo” and giggle at silly sounds. But, it was just a phase…
He loved his car seat.
But, it was just a phase…
See, the phases come
and go. And, they aren’t all good, but they aren’t all bad either.
Every morning I feel
helpless, am in the midst of a tantrum or a really fun giggly moment, I try to
remember: “Everything is a phase”.
The baby will stop
crying. The baby will sleep through the night. And as my girlfriend would say,
“… it just probably won’t be today. But, everything is a
phase”.
And, that sometimes
feels like a blessing – or a curse. 
A little throwback photo of me & favorite little guy… morning snuggles (it was just a phase!)
(Amy Iler is a talk-show host at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. She can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm during “It Takes 2 with Amy & JJ”. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKFGO.)
