{Jill} Project Empowering Motherhood

Today we hear from Jill of Baby Rabies. Jill sums up her blog perfectly when she says, "This is the story of how I went bat shit crazy, nearly overdosed on Tums, had my brain eaten by a fetus, my vagina torn apart and nipples set on fire and survived to tell about it." I am a HUGE fan of Jill and Baby Rabies and I love how she's not afraid to talk about the ugly parts of motherhood (maxi pads, stay at home mom guilt). She's not afraid to say what's on her mind (this A/C sign is awesome) and she posts the funniest mom/pregnancy things (C is for...). There's just so much to love that it's hard to really tell you all about it so I suggest you head over to Baby Rabies and spend a few hours reading all the funny, honest, and sentimental posts.

Here are Jill's answers:

1.  One ugly truth about motherhood. You may not instantly "like" your child. You will LOVE them more than you could ever imagine from the moment you lay eyes on them, yes, but it just might take a while to like them. This is normal, especially when you're dealing with a particularly fussy or high needs baby. It's also completely normal to wonder (frequently, at times), "What the hell did I do?" Don't worry, as you settle into motherhood, start to sleep longer stretches, and your child begins rewarding all your hard work with baby smiles and coos and the beginnings of a little personality, you will suddenly find yourself entranced with this awesome little person. Just give yourself some time.

2. What does motherhood mean to you? Motherhood, to me, means the amazing opportunity to share my joy and my love with a person who will grow up and share it with countless others. Sounds corny, I know, but it's so amazing to know that I have the power to make my child happy, and he, in turn, has the power to make so many others happy in his lifetime. No matter how we get there, no matter the parenting decisions we make, the ultimate goal is our child's long-term happiness (which is not to say it doesn't come with a healthy balance of discipline and life lessons).

3. How has motherhood empowered you? I could write a book on how motherhood has empowered me, but for the sake of keeping things brief, I'll just say that motherhood allowed me to give myself permission to change. To be the person my heart wants to be, the person I want my son to look up to, not the person I always pressured myself to be. That, in and of itself, has opened a sea of opportunities for me, which have made me feel stronger and more confident in myself than I ever did prior to motherhood.

Thank you Jill for being unabashedly you and for being so honest with your motherhood experience. It's always refreshing to read about the truth and ugliness of motherhood and it's even better to read about it when humor's mixed in.


Project Empowering Motherhood is an ongoing series in celebration and honor of Cati's 6 months. For my responses to the questions and more about the series, go HERE. To read Jenn, Melisa, Esther, Andrea, Jenny, Jen, Mollie, Jamie, Charlotte, Erika, Shari, Julie, Lenore, Caroline, Alex, Prudy, Delia, Kelly, Becki and Bree's answers, go HERE. If you are interested in participating and being featured on the blog send your answers to the three questions to steppystar@aol.com.