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“The First Year (an introduction to a new Strong Buzz column)”

I haven’t written much about being a mom on this blog. It’s not that I haven’t had things to say, believe me, I have. It’s primarily because being a mom leaves little time for such luxuries as creative writing. With the free time I have, I usually tend to prioritize things like personal hygiene, sleep, communication with my spouse (and if I am lucky, a few close family members and friends), and mostly, the care of my daughter Emily. This leaves me approximately 4.3 minutes a day of free time. Not a heck of a lot.

But now that Emily is a big girl (she’s 8 months!) I have gotten into more of a rhythm with my life. This is in large part because Emily sleeps well through the night, so I am getting somewhat normal sleep, but it’s also because I have given up certain luxuries I used to adore. First, I finally cancelled my subscription to the New Yorker, too depressed by seeing them pile up in my basket of reading material week after week, layered cozily on top of one another like woolen blankets in a winter closet.

My gym membership is something that has also grown stale. I haven’t given up completely on it, I have managed to go about a dozen times in the past month, which is monumental to me, but it’s a pathetic number of times compared to the dedicated daily routine I had before I had Emily. Aesthetic rituals like blow-drying my hair, manicures, pedicures, and the like, have also become a thing of the past. I still manage to wear a little makeup so as not to frighten the poor child, but it’s not enough, and then I think, really, who has the time. And who really cares? Who do I see all day? Emily. My mom. My husband. And they like me just the same no matter what. (Though my mom always gives me a very big smile when she sees that I have taken the time to put on lip gloss and blush. “You look so pretty today! she says, hoping in her heart of hearts that this trend will continue. It rarely does.)

Anyway, now that I have cut out the New Yorker, the gym, and most aesthetic rituals, I do have a bit more time to myself (maybe 1.4 hours a day), and I’ve decided it’s time to start to write about my experiences during this first year of motherhood.

I will tell you right now this column, which will fill the Pot Luck space of this blog every week, will have nothing to do with food. Yes, it’s a departure from the usual content of The Strong Buzz, but it’s what I know now, more than restaurants, quite frankly, which I don’t get to visit that often these days.

I do hope that you (or someone you know who may be a new mom) will enjoy it, relate to it, or have something to say (good or bad) about it. I will say that I will not be sugar coating motherhood, wrapping it in some pretty pink post partum aura of soft light. I will be talking about what it’s really like, at least how it was and is for me. It’s hard. Harder than anything I have ever done and I have done some things people consider really trying. I’ve run the NYC Marathon, logged the hours at a big law firm and opened a hot New York City restaurant. Let me tell you, nothing compares to the first year of mothering your first child. There are no lows lower and no highs higher. First, there’s nothing that will challenge a relationship more: the one with your spouse, the ones with your friends, and most profoundly, the one with yourself. The birth of Emily was the greatest singular moment of my life, but the weeks and first few months that followed had me wondering how I had become such an insecure, exhausted, frail, and deeply depressed wreck of a woman. It was heaven and hell, a paradigm that left me feeling worn, drained, and completely overwhelmed and bewildered. I was found in some ways, but I felt quite lost.

While this column will touch on my personal post partum emotional experience, I’ll also be taking you through the nuts and bolts of motherhood from working with breastfeeding lactation Nazis to what to look for in a stroller.

So, stay tuned this week for my first installment. I hope you’ll enjoy reading The First Year, and either way, I hope to hear from you and learn more about your experiences too.

Here’s to our mothers.

Andrea


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1.)
“the First Year”

Can't wait for the next one. Wish I could write like you because then I could explain what an experience it is being a grandmother for the first time.

2.)Yumm
“Looking forward to it!”

Love your food articles and am interested in your experience as a new mom. Mazeltov!

3.)craigbuzz
“great post!”

keep 'em coming!

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