They Only Come with a Placenta

Have ever noticed a mother? What they do, how they all do it differently? You know, none of us know how we got there, or how our minds triggered the words "quick, breast out, or fill a bottle with formula" the moment—the literal moment you have that child. Your body is telling you a million things. But you never knew this stuff? Well only the basics like breasts do have milk and can feed an infant, but how? Did you know every breast has its individual way of being held to feed a newborn child, and every child needs to be held a specific way to be fed, too?! What about the pinky hook? Take a guess...it's to stop them latching so your nipple doesn't fall off.

I ponder over a lot, especially in my five minute alone time with my favourite buddy, the bath. I think a lot. How did our bodies do it? And most incredibly, this tiny, tiny human you have just produced knows how to reciprocate! The baby knows they are hungry, they know they want food. Yes, they cant' tell you, but they can cry! They can cry and tell you that something is wrong. How do they do it? They were in your tummy nine months. Nine whole months. That's a lot of days, ladies and gentlemen. In that time? They cry. So why, when you did not respond to them on the inside, do they think we will on the outside? Marvelous, isn't it?

My son is now one years old and I shall be 20 in a few more months. I am deemed as a "young mum," but I'm the same as every other mother. I'm learning, I'm scared, I make mistakes. But every time I look at my son, I realise...never in a million gosh damn years did I think I'd ever do something so wonderful. Twenty four hour career, being a teacher, a doctor, and a hero—a gosh damn hero. Every time he hits his head, who does he look for? Me. Every time he is sick, who does he look for? Me. Every time the lights are off and he cant see what's ahead, who does he turn for? Me. What is wonderful isn't the fact I taught him all these things—a lot of them just came to him, you know? So again, it proves my point how marvelous children actually are, despite people's constant disregard of their intelligence. They teach themselves, they understand when we lay them on their stomachs it's time to try crawl and raise their heads, they understand when food comes their way, to open their mouths and chew, not just straight away swallow. They teach themselves that their mummies and daddies will always save them, care for them, hold them, no matter how silly the situation. They teach themselves all of it. You tell them something, they progressively learn the words. You give them a cup, they hold it; a fork, they scoop with it. Wonderful damn humans.

The purest, as well. I definitely blame my weight on my overly sharing child. Every time he has food, everybody else must have some as well. Sharing: nobody taught Jim that. He did? Dogs are to be pet, and they say "woof." He taught himself that. Not me. You know he whistled today? I cant whistle. Neither can his dad. He taught himself off of it.

If you have a child, you ought to be damn proud, because you didn't get given a book. You got given a placenta with your new baby. You didn't get a step by step guide on how to bring up the perfect child. You did that on your own, and I am proud of everyone who has done so, including myself, because mothers are so damn amazing.