20 things I learned in my first year as a mum.

Yes, becoming a parent reinvents your life, but if you had  to make a list of what you’ve learned, how long would it be?

Now that my baby is a toddler, I’m in a new phase of motherhood. Gone are the days of waking up every three hours at night, stealth breastfeeding in public and needing the nursery to look Pinteresting.

In retrospect, keeping a journal about the first year of my life as a mother was one of the best decisions I ever made. I can look back and reflect on how much we’ve both grown.

Here are 20 things I learned in my first year as a mum:

1. The first meal you have after you give birth tastes like it was prepared by an angel and floated down on a cloud just for you. For me, it was crackers and apple juice.

2. It gets easier, then harder, then easier, then harder.

3. You will buy beautiful, artisan baby toys, but the baby would trade them all for an iPhone of her very own.

4. "Date nights" are essential to feeling like a couple and not just a couple of baby slaves.

5. You will Google things you never thought you would Google.

6. If there is any danger in the room -- an outlet, a sharp corner, etc. -- the baby will go there.

7. You will never feel so vulnerable, so in love, so part of life... or so sleepy.

8. Keep paper plates in your home. Tell yourself they are for "tough days," but use them whenever.

9. Make a big batch of food on Sunday to make Monday easier for everyone.

10. When you fail at #9 (and you will), you will subsist on bites of cheese and baby biscuits and feel terrible.

11. It's OK to leave the baby with my husband to get some time to myself. Even if it's just coffee and 10 pages of a book.

12. You will feel like you're spending all your money at Target.

13. Seeing my husband be a great dad made me fall in love with him in a whole new way.

14. You will have a 3 a.m. argument with your spouse about which one of you is more tired.

15. I don't get annoyed when I hear a baby crying in public anymore. I only feel sympathy.

16. It's OK to accept help when it's offered. I'm a mother, not a martyr.

17. Babies teach us patience and keep us humble.

18. Some days you will envision what life would have been like if you'd never had a baby -- like my alternate life in which I joined a Tuscan convent.

19. Some moments will be so wonderful you will think, "I am living my life's purpose right now."

20. Babies grow and soon they aren't really babies anymore, so make as many memories as your heart can hold.

This post was originally published on jaymiranda.com, a blog about fashion and motherhood. Find me on Instagram at @pinklip. Images courtesy of Jay Miranda's Facebook page.

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