Scientists Now Know…
Mommy brain is a real thing. Wait, what? Actually, I found conflicting information. Several articles suggest we experience a cognitive decline, while another article said our brains actually get bigger! Whatever. I know it’s real, and I invoked it regularly before and after my three pregnancies. Have you ever looked for your baby, only to realize she is on your hip? Did you ever look for your phone while using the light assist on your phone? Just the other day I was reading Facebook on my phone. I heard my phone ring, set the phone down to go answer it. It was just a commercial that had a phone with the same ring. I really did put my phone down to go answer my phone.
Numerous mothers write to me about making changes to their orders. Can you please change the spelling of my baby’s name? I put too many letters in it. May I please update the shipping address? I gave you the wrong state. We get at least one of those requests a week. What do a majority of those requests have in common? Somewhere in the email the moms make reference to “mommy brain”.
Last week, a customer gave her friend the wrong birthdate for her new baby. We ran the blanket with the date that was on the order. This lovely new mother called and said she gave her friend the wrong date. She didn’t know what she was thinking. This particular story brought up one such mommy brain incident that happened in our home. Unfortunately, it went on for years.
We have three sons. Their birthdays fall on the 10th and 15th. When my youngest son was born his birthdate fell on the same day as one of his brothers. This is great! I only need to remember two dates – the 10th and the 15th. The only problem is my husband and I associated his birthday with the wrong brother! We had a 50/50 shot, and we still blew it.
About 4 years ago, I was cleaning out a closet and found a Polaroid picture taken when Christian was born. I screamed, “David, oh S&^*! We have been celebrating his birthday on the wrong day”. How did we not know when our own son was born? We are awful parents. I did what any mother would do, and I immediately group-texted my friends conveying to them how awful I felt. This is one of those moments when you know which of your friends you will grow old with. One friend sent all sorts of laughing emoji’s and an LOL. Another wrote, “That’s awful. How could you forget that?” Delete.
I thought breaking it to my friends was going to be the hard part. I had no idea. We had to get the date changed at his pediatrician’s office, the pharmacy, and the preschool. The doctor part was easy but the preschool was dreadful. Our son’s preschool room was decorated with a picture of each kid, the things they liked to do, favorite foods and their birthday. I walked up to the teacher to tell her the story so she could change the date. I’ve received mixed reviews up to this point, so I was still a little shaky when telling the story. We got the “Oh. Oka-a-a-a-y”. That’s fine; I can live with that. No sooner had I relaxed having just checked the preschool off of my list, when she grabbed a marker and walked over to his little profile. I could hear the sound of the marker as if it was yelling at me. His teacher marked through the 15 and wrote 10! Every day I dropped him off I was reminded of the day I made a decision while I was under the influence of mommy brain.
In my defense, I could tell you about how sick I had been. Magnesium was pulsing through my veins, and my blood pressure was soaring. I didn’t make this baby by myself. My husband didn’t have mommy brain. What’s his excuse?
At the end of the day, we had a good laugh. It’s tough being a new mom. You are sleep-deprived, dealing with hormonal changes, and adjusting to a major life change. We all need to stick together, laugh these small things off, hug it out when we need to, and drink a margarita with our girlfriends. When I get the next customer email with the “mommy brain” excuse, I’ll be here--and I get it!
We finally told my son about the day we screwed up his birthday… Okay, it went on for years. He said as long as we celebrated him, it didn’t matter if it was the 10th or the 15th. His response was a reminder that we have done something right!
Share your mommy brain story!
Heather