Learning curve.

A few days ago I went to pick up some things at the grocery store, with Nate in tow. I just pushed him in the stroller…he had fallen asleep in the car and stayed asleep while I looked around the store. When we got to the check-out, a woman got in line behind us. Her cart was overflowing with groceries. With one arm, she placed cans and boxes on the conveyor belt. In the crook of her other arm slept a tiny new baby.

“Would you like some help?” I asked her. She was doing a pretty good job with her one free hand, but if that had been me, I sure would have appreciated the offer.

“Oh, no, that’s okay, I’ve got my mom with me,” she answered. “Otherwise I wouldn’t dream of doing such a big shop with this guy!”

“How old is he?” I asked her.

“Three weeks. What about your baby?” she motioned toward my stroller.

“Four months,” I answered.

I stopped to consider this.

Four months.

It seemed impossible that Nate was ever tiny like the little baby she held. Since he slept that soundly in the middle of a store. Since he was brand new. Since I was a brand new mom. Suddenly I felt so seasoned. I didn’t ask the woman if her baby was her first. Maybe this was her second or third or fourth baby. I realized that I’m not a new mom anymore. I know Nate. I know how to take care of him now, what his routine is, what he likes and doesn’t like, when he needs to sleep and when he needs to eat.

It’s such a good feeling, not just feeling confident as a mother, but the realization that having him, being a mother, has given me the opportunity to continue to learn. Sure, I’m not learning academic lessons, but I’m learning a lot of really important skills, valuable skills that I can continue to put to use for years to come…on the job training, so to speak.

Only with this job, the bonuses don’t arrive on an annual basis. They show up every single day.

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