Tired Mama Eyes

Sometimes I see myself in the eyes of other mamas, especially first-time mamas with little ones around my son's age.⁣
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Tired.⁣
Nervous.⁣
Lonely.⁣⁣
Timid.⁣
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Often I see these struggling new mama eyes on women sitting alone playing with their infant. Just watching the more experienced moms.⁣
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I get it. I fought it, too. It’s been better with my second baby.⁣
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Know what's making the biggest difference? Mom friends.⁣
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Sometimes, I try to chat with the new mamas. I ask a lot of questions and talk about the standard mama/baby stuff. It can be socially awkward to have an intimate conversation with a stranger, but it's easy to talk about things like birth stories and sleep when you both have babies in your arms.⁣
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When Nouarie was small, I blew off having mom friends, because I kept thinking I could do it all alone. I was wrong. ⁣
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I was that tired, nervous, lonely, and timid mama who wasn’t even at the playground.⁣
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Now I often don't get to chat with the new mamas I see because I am too busy catching up with my mama friends. ⁣
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I'm still tired, but my confidence is stronger and my perspective of the rewarding and challenging experience of raising tiny humans, temper-tantrums and all, is brighter because I’m not alone.⁣
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Mamas, find mama friends and make time to hang out with them in real life.⁣
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Experience mamas, try a little harder to check in on the new ones in your life...even if they are just timid strangers at the playground.⁣
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PS This picture is from the middle of the night when Noutin was three weeks old.⁣