Day 27: The Joys of Receiving

When my mother offered to drive up to stay with us, drive us all down to her house to visit with my cousin, drive us back up, and then drive back down solo, I initially refused on the grounds that... it was crazy. Why would I let her do all of that driving when I could just come down and get the babe and me back up? But she wanted to, and I eventually relented, on the grounds that I was exhausted and the prospect of driving over an hour at a time with my baby potentially screaming bloody murder in the back of the car where I could not reach her was unbearable. So she did the driving, and we had a lovely trip both ways. Me, sitting in the back soothing the babe when she got worked up. Us, chatting about what it was like to be a bigger family now. My husband and I similarly struggled with the Meal Train idea when a friend offered to set one up. We were both going to be home all day with the baby. Why would we need other people, working their full time jobs, to make meals for us? Again, we relented, and again we were rewarded with delicious food and were filled with deep gratitude for our community who cared for us. There is a universal human truth that people LIKE to help one another. Seriously, science says so (unless they feel obliged, but that's another story, and the responsibility of others to untangle their own business). People receive joy from giving. And, if you let yourself, you get car rides and delicious food and the joy of receiving. You get deep gratitude by relying on others. In order to get these things, however, you need to let others help you, and sometimes even being willing to ask for help. Know they too get a little dopamine kick for helping you, and you get a kick for being helped. So say yes and then snuggle into the warmth of being cared for.

#Postpartum #mindfulness #newborn #parenting #Mommy