Take the Shower

My heart races as I slip off the breast-milk stained tee I’ve been wearing to bed for the last three nights. The water splashing off the porcelain tile is both familiar and exotic, I pause to appreciate the luxury embedded in each pelting drop. I peek over my shoulder at my newborn asleep in his bouncy chair in the doorway, “please stay asleep” I pray to the new-mum gods. As I slip through the curtain, the water wraps around me like a thousand tiny hugs. The tension drips from my body and swirls down the drain. For an instant, I forget about the sting of my c-section scar, my aching, engorged boobs, and the overwhelming responsibility of keeping a tiny human alive; I feel completely refreshed.

After five and a half years of mummyhood, this memory is still as vivid as the day I lived it; that refreshing while fleeting moment during my first shower at home after having my son Kellen. It was that instant that taught me the power of a shower.

As a new parent your life can quickly become narrow. It’s easy to lose sight of yourself and your own needs in those first few months of sleep deprivation. Chronic sleepiness can make it hard to nourish other bits of you that help you feel human, like reading books, getting dressed, or making and eating a hot meal. But a shower, even if it leads you back to the same breast-milk stained t-shirt, can provide you with the boost needed to get through another day of feeds, unexpected visitors, non-existent naps and unmet goals.

New parents (and even seasoned ones) receive a lot of unsolicited advice. Some of it’s helpful, some of it… not so much. But whether you co-sleep, cry-it-out, breast-feed, formula-feed, babywear or not, we all need to shower. So, here’s another piece of advice to throw in your toolbox:

Take the shower.

Even if the baby is napping and everyone and your mom tells you to “nap when the baby naps”.

I mean, it’s not bad advice, but you’re still going to wake up smelling like you just emerged from a three-day bender; not very encouraging for a person who may feel as if they’re slowly drowning in parenthood, if you ask me.

Take the shower.

Even if, rather especially if, you’re home alone.

Put that baby somewhere safe and go for it; worst case scenario, baby starts to cry. I can tell you from experience, crying (whether it’s yours, baby’s or both) harmonizes beautifully with the soft sprinkle of water bouncing off a tired achy body.

 

Take the shower.

Even if it’s after noon and you have nowhere to be, and no desire to go anywhere.  

Take the shower.

You may just be inspired to put on pants.

And let’s face it, that’s the real measure of new parent productivity.