Being a parent is not easy. Becoming a new parent is an experience that cannot be described in 100 books on parenting. It’s full of contrasts: joy and sadness, love and dislike, exhilaration and exhaustion.
Being a new parent is challenging and more often than not, mums and dads just need that one gesture of understanding, that one realistic article, to show them that they are not alone.
A maternity hospital in the UK shared a simple yet poignant open letter to new mums and dads which they really need to read when times get tough.
This beautiful letter correctly sums up the trials and tribulations of being a new parent. And it also gives tired mums and dads advice on how to cope with the darker days.
The letter is written from the point-of-view of a new born baby and joins the ranks of articles we all read to help us get through those tough parenting moments.
Here is the letter that’s bringing tears to the eyes of parents all around the world:
Dear Mummy and Daddy
Please keep this letter from me in a place where you can read it and re-read it when things are rough and you are feeling down.
Please don’t expect too much from me as a new born baby, or too much from yourselves as parents. Give us both six weeks as a birthday present, six weeks for me to grow, develop, mature, and become more stable and predictable – six weeks for you to rest and relax and allow your body to get back to normal.
Please feed me when I am hungry, I never knew hunger in your womb and clocks and time mean little to me.
Please hold, cuddle, kiss, touch, stroke and croon to me. I was always held closely in your womb and have never been alone before.
Please forgive me if I cry a lot. I am not a tyrant who was sent to make your life miserable, the only way I can tell you I am not happy is with my cry, bear with me and in a short time, as I mature, I will spend less time crying and more time socializing.
Please take the time to find out who I am, how I differ from you and how much I can bring to you. Watch me carefully and I’ll tell you things which sooth, console and please me.
Please remember that I am resilient and can withstand the many natural mistakes you’ll make with me. As long as you make them with love, I cannot be harmed.
Please don’t be disappointed when I am not the perfect baby you expected nor be disappointed with yourselves when you are not the perfect parents.
Please take care of yourself; eat a balanced diet, rest, and exercise so that when we are together, you have the patience and energy to take care of me. The cure for a fussy baby is more rest for Mum.
Please take care of your relationship with each other. What good is family bonding if there is no family left for me to bond with.
Keep the “big picture” in mind. I’ll be like this for a very short time, though it seems like forever to you now. Although I may have turned your life upside down, please remind yourselves that things will be back to normal before long.
Enjoy me – I’ll never be this little again!
An overwhelming response
This letter touched parents around the world and no sooner than it was posted, responses started pouring in.
“You only see the truth of this when your baby is not so dependent any more. It’s a beautiful letter,” another parent wrote.
“As a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother this is such sound advice. I wish I had this letter when my first baby was born 45 years ago”
Reminders such as this are essential to show parents that they are not alone in the sometime daunting task of raising a small human. If you have read this, share this message with a parent you know to show them that you care, that they are not alone.
