Comments on natalie's sentiments: "No wait! I'm just like you!" (Alternate title, "...

love this post! you are awesome!

2012-01-18T06:34:10.251-05:00

love this post! you are awesome!

Well-written, Natalie! I can't believe your d...

2012-01-10T20:32:46.528-05:00

Well-written, Natalie! I can't believe your day. That is insane. I'm glad you've shared this with your readers. I know exactly how you feel. I was very good at my career and although I love my calling as a mother, I do miss my other self. But I, too, get glimpses of her. You should submit this to a magazine or something. Does Boise have a local Mom mag? Our town does.

I loved this. I laughed so hard. It is so funny....

2012-01-10T20:24:29.205-05:00

I loved this. I laughed so hard. It is so funny. I can say that only because I AM A MOTHER and have had many awful experiences like that. It is a scene from a movie. A couple of months ago I had one where I took my 8 year old to the movies and along came my nursing baby. My 8 year old had been waiting 2 months for this date with mom and was so excited. Well part way through the movie my baby had a blow out and so I just took her out with her diaper bag. We were at the cheap movie theater downtown far away from home and it wasn't the nicest place. It's old and not been updated. Well when I got to the bathroom there was luckily a counter. Well when I took her diaper off I realized I had no diapers in her diaper bag. Me the mother of 4 had no diapers. Well I literally stood their and prayed on what to do. I didn't want to tell my 8 year old we had to leave and have him be sad so I took everything from the diaper bag and using everything including my nursing cover made a make-shift diaper and just prayed we'd be okay. My baby soon fell asleep and slept the rest of the movie. Well after the movie when I stood up I had pee all over me. I had to drive the 20 minutes home with pee on me and my sweet baby never complained that she and her car seat were covered in pee. I had to wash my baby, her car seat and me after the movie. It was pretty awful but a fun story that now after it's all over I can look back and smile.

It does make me sad that nobody helped you and that there was no letter telling where to go for court. Oh what an experience. This will be a story that will be told for generations on what my mom, grandmother and great grandmother did. I still can't stop smiling. You are a trooper. I would have probably called the court house crying before I even thought of getting out of bed. You go girl. You are definitely A MOTHER.

This is excellently written! Thank you so much for...

2012-01-09T20:26:30.096-05:00

This is excellently written! Thank you so much for sharing. I catch glimpses of my former architect self too, but I have to say I like my self much better now, two kids into it. :)

Oh Joy, yes I believe we ALL get that bathroom sce...

2012-01-07T23:46:24.855-05:00

Oh Joy, yes I believe we ALL get that bathroom scene.

Wonderful post!!! I actually almost cried when the...

2012-01-07T22:10:48.399-05:00

Wonderful post!!! I actually almost cried when the "you from five years ago" laid her eyes on the you in the present. How many preconceived judgements we have made as childless women... and then when we have those children we "get it"! Oh how we get it! I'm a mother to four now. I totally get this post, especially the bathroom scene.

2012-01-07T21:10:53.120-05:00

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Natalie, As I read through this post I found mysel...

2012-01-07T13:41:18.605-05:00

Natalie,
As I read through this post I found myself staring into that closet, pushing that stroller, crying those tears and feeling the pain...you have a way of writing that literally puts me right in the middle of it. I read that story and wanted to leap into the words on the "paper" and help you, what a day!

I totally get your comment about wanting the old you and the new you to be able to merge, co-exist. I am a mother of three and I too want the same thing. (Especially the sex part, Ha!) Thank you for sharing your heart and your experiences.

Adrienne

Ok. Your comment left me equal parts exhausted and...

2012-01-07T11:57:01.727-05:00

Ok. Your comment left me equal parts exhausted and confused.

I don't think you really get my blog. Do you really think that I would be a full time mother if I was worried about being "just a mother" as a career? That I would do something I was embarrassed about? My word, everything I write about it the opposite of that. I think being a mother is the most noble calling there is. I'm proud to say that is what I do full time.

http://www.nataliessentiments.com/2011/03/cookie-cutters.html

However, I spent 28 years of my life not being a mother. And before I was a mother, I loved the woman I had become. If I ever say I don't want to be just a mother, I mean that I want all of me to coexist. I want the 28 years of development to merge together with the mother I have become. I want it all. I don't want to be "her". I want to be "me". And I'm pretty sure that 99% of women out there want the same thing.

I think that if you go back and read my blog for a few years, you will see that you grossly missed the point.

And I do talk about this often outside the blogosphere. Just not with everyone.

2012-01-06T21:16:07.146-05:00

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2012-01-06T21:13:13.532-05:00

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Thanks everyone! You make me smile with all your s...

2012-01-06T15:38:33.129-05:00

Thanks everyone! You make me smile with all your sweet comments.

(Jenn - I remember that story. So gross. Who knew there would be so much poop to deal with!)

Wow, what a story and what a FABULOUS piece of wri...

2012-01-06T15:02:09.236-05:00

Wow, what a story and what a FABULOUS piece of writing. You should consider submitting it to an essay contest, seriously!

This situation reminds me a little of my Mother's Day last year, spent with a sick 2 year old on an airplane. At one point, I had to change a nasty blowout in the airplane bathroom, not realizing there was a fold out changing table. What a nightmare, trying to do that, all amidst knocking on the door from outside. When we got to the hotel, I cried for a while, but looking back, it's just like you said: if I made it through that, I can do anything.

I had that moment when I was pregnant with Sydnie ...

2012-01-06T13:28:06.137-05:00

I had that moment when I was pregnant with Sydnie and Makenna pooped her pants at the Mall but I had driven an hour and a half to buy a couple maternity shirts! I didn't even bring the diaper bag with me because I was only going to be a few minutes! I used the bathroom there in Motherhood and chucked her underwear and tried to clean her up with Toilet Paper--there were no paper towels. Then as I put her in the rented car stroller and I'm waiting to check out she puts her bare feet up on the steering wheel and yells so all could hear, "I've got poop on my feet!" It was awful and yes I contributed to the horrible germs on those rental strollers--DON'T EVER rent them. I gave it back and made her walk in her bare feet in 40 degree weather out to the car--I got a lot of stares. She fell asleep smelling of poop on the way home. I NEVER thought that would happen to me! Thanks for sharing. Loved it! Love you!

Hope you don't mind, but I had to share this o...

2012-01-06T12:27:22.520-05:00

Hope you don't mind, but I had to share this on my blog, FB, and Twitter. It's a gem.

Molly - Most of my journal entries are two lines. ...

2012-01-06T00:28:46.166-05:00

Molly - Most of my journal entries are two lines. So no, this one is not typical.

Abby - I think of you as a pretty nice person, so I'm going to assume that you didn't intend your comment to be so completely rude and condescending. Also, it really had nothing to do with my post. But, I'll address it anyway.

Being a mother is a sacrifice. Of course it is. You give up everything to do it. Admitting that isn't showing regret, it is taking ownership of the choice you make.

When I was in college I intended to do my graduate degree in France. I studied French for 2 1/2 years to get ready. Then I met Shane. He still had two years of undergraduate work. I knew that if I went to France, I probably would not end up with him. So guess what. I chose to stay. I made a huge sacrifice to be with him. I openly admit it was a sacrifice and yet I have not regretted that one day of my life. Sacrifice is not synonymous with regret.

Thinking that motherhood is hard is not one step away from choosing daycare. However,pretending motherhood isn't hard is a sure path straight to Prozac.

2012-01-05T21:59:56.659-05:00

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Dave and Abby- Did you even read the post? Your ...

2012-01-05T15:40:24.675-05:00

Dave and Abby-

Did you even read the post? Your comment was totally off.

Liz

Thanks so much for sharing! I wish there had been ...

2012-01-05T15:25:40.937-05:00

Thanks so much for sharing! I wish there had been a mother or grandmother passing by, if only to give you that reassuring look that day.
I remember having DS1 and thinking how difficult it was to do everyday things, then ds2 came along 18 months later and difficult morphed into impossible. But, I look back (now that they are 2 and 3) and am so impressed at the things I've done with those two in my life. I may still not shower everyday, but those two smiling faces are all that matter and they don't mind.

2012-01-05T14:45:27.902-05:00

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I love you. This made me cry. We've all {mom...

2012-01-05T14:42:17.879-05:00

I love you. This made me cry. We've all {moms with two kids} been there.

I had a similar epiphany at the mall after Ben was born, in my fat pants, as I sat in a bench outside Nordstrom. As I looked at the stores where I used to fit into the clothes and cute people walked by, he pooped all over himself and me, too. I had to change him into the too small pants I had come to return.

I love this post. What a difference two years makes, right? Until #3 comes along... hee hee...

I wish I had thought to write thing like that down...

2012-01-05T13:34:11.070-05:00

I wish I had thought to write thing like that down! I often think about 'my life' then and now, and wonder if I ever gave the lady with the 4 annoying kids at the grocery store that look I get sometimes. .. I would hope not but then again what do all those 'before real life sets in' people know anyways! I hope juggling has gotten easier!

Couldn't help but cry, laugh and and enjoy you...

2012-01-05T10:56:47.169-05:00

Couldn't help but cry, laugh and and enjoy your entry today. Thank you for sharing what most of us try to avoid.

Wow... what a crazy experience. This should be in...

2012-01-05T10:49:41.498-05:00

Wow... what a crazy experience. This should be in a book. I love that you shared this, and yes, I do feel better about how my day is going so far ;)

wow... are all your journal entries short novels??...

2012-01-05T10:31:00.862-05:00

wow... are all your journal entries short novels?? And that tops all my bad days.