By Karen Johnson 
I can clearly remember the day we brought home our second baby. My son, just over two years old, was unsure of his new sister. He was very clingy with Mom, but he also knew that suddenly he had newfound freedom. No longer was Mommy able to jump up and catch him before he did something destructive. With baby sister on the boob every few hours, he had a few seconds head-start now on whatever mischief he wanted to get into. As the tamest of my three kids, he actually wasn’t too bad. (Except that one day he found a black Sharpie, waved in my face while I was breastfeeding, and took off, cackling. That wasn’t a good day.)
Angela, creative force behind the hilarious Instagram account mommywinetime, and mom to a newborn named Joseph and 2-year-old named Vince, is currently living this life. And a recent Instagram post—complete with a photo of her breastfeeding Joseph while a toy train is stuck hanging from her hair—encompasses motherhood better than anything I’ve seen in a while. If you’ve been a mommy to a baby and toddler, especially if either has been a boy, you know that both feeding and Thomas the Train encompass a large part of your day. Every day.
Angela’s post reads: “Maternity leave day eleven. ‘I sorry, Mama,’ my two year old said as Thomas’ wheels spin and tangle in my ponytail. ‘Stuck.’ He was so right. Thomas was stuck. I have a breastfeeding newborn on me as I sit on the floor trying to play trucks with my son. It didn’t feel good. I knew it would need to be cut out of my hair.”
Because as mothers, we can’t have nice things. Not even hair.
In her post, she admits that in that moment, she “wanted to say many things.” Instead she said, “It’s ok, buddy. We will get him out.” She then goes on to share, “We are all trying to get used to the new normal at our house.”
This lesson is an important one for Mom and son. I remember my son’s confusion about who this new tiny person was that took up so much of Mommy’s time—time that used to be devoted to him. I remember his frustration when his precious reading time would be cut short by his crying little sister. Or when we’d have to pull over in the middle of running errands so I could nurse her, and he’d have to entertain himself in the car for an extra half hour. It’s an adjustment for everyone, and everyone has to make sacrifices, even if one of those sacrifices is your current hairstyle.
Angela ends her post by saying, “My son needs to know that mistakes happen and how we react to those mistakes shapes our little ones. That is why I am still smiling. He apologized, so I guess I’m doing something right… Time to call my stylist! #thomasthetrain#toddlers #hairstyle #maternityleave#whattoexpect
So maybe the silver lining is Mommy might get a few hours to herself later on this week at the hair salon! And for that, she can say thanks to her toddler! And to Thomas the Train.
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