The first few months of parenthood: the most joyful, most exhausted, most elated, most anxious, and most “oh gosh, does anyone here know what we’re doing” months many of us will EVER live. We’re grateful for every giggle and misstep, every late night snuggle, every new fumbling first.
In honor of the season of gratitude, we thought we’d write a few words of thanks to some of the modern inventions that make the chaos of our first months a little more manageable. The unsung nursery heroes that take the edge off of our days, keep us together, and keep us from losing our minds.
They may be small. They may be inanimate. But these little conveniences keep our parenting worlds spinning, and we, for the record, are thankful.
Dear quiet close drawers, silent gliders, and sound machines:
Thank you for being the double-edged sword of magic that allows us to put laundry away during naptime, that keeps the dreamers dreaming, that masks the floorboard squeak on our ninja-crawl out of the room.
Thank you for your rains sounds, your distant thunderstorms, your oceans, and your ability to make that “shh shh shh shh” sound hours after our tongues have surrendered.
Thank you for making the sleeping transition from arms to crib possible, at least some of the time.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for helping at least someone in this house get some sleep.
Dear odor-sealing diaper pail:
Thank you for saving us daily trips to the side yard, for saving our noses and our illusions of a well-kept home.
Thank you for keeping our nurseries less hostile to visitors, and for keeping up the good work when our hands are too full and our brains are too sleep-deprived to remember which day the bins are collected.
Thank you for never giving up, even when we switched to solids -you’re a true champion.
A hero of our time.
Dear swaddle sacks:
Thank you for saving us from the tangle of the baby burrito.
Thank you for your zip-up ease, your safe warmth, the peace of mind you provide. Thank you for solving our “how to keep the crib free of blankets” dilemma. Thank you for the cozy wonder of early morning toddler feet scooting around inside of you.
Thank you for taking “learn to fold intricate baby magic” off of our to-do lists.
Thank you for the sweetness of the snuggles you provide.
Dear well-designed crib, sleek-looking rocker, chic modern dresser, boho-fab lamp:
We haven’t forgotten that “nursery” once meant pastels and fluffy lambs and ruffles. That, once upon a time, “baby gear” was limited to pale pinks and smiling bears and bright plastics and had no regard at all for personal style.
Thank goodness for you, modern nursery design.
Thank you for making the nursery feel like home again, like just another comfortable, stylish room in our house we are proud to share and photograph and spend time in.
Thank you for saving us from hundreds spent on items we’d never dream of using anywhere else in the house. Thanks for transitioning to toddler rooms, for looking great in the living room, for being the sort of hand-me-downs our future grown-up children will actually WANT to receive.
Thanks for making life a little more beautiful.
Dear wearable breast pump:
Listen, what can we say?
Thank you for helping us feel a little less like captive cattle and a little more like ourselves.
Seriously. Thank you for that.
Dear smartphone video monitor:
You allow us to sit, and stay sitting, when we need rest most.
You’ve given us the gift of one less gadget to remember, the joy of being able to peek in on our sleeping miracle from work, from an errand run, or when the babysitter forgets to send us that photo update.
You’ve saved us from accidentally waking a soundly-sleeping infant more times than we can count.
You’ve comforted our nerves and reassured our hearts. Thank you.
Dear internet:
Thank you for the parenting communities that have assured us we aren’t the only ones up at 3am.
Thank you for the advice, both the good, the bad, and the relentless – thank you for the endless supply of information, for the answers you keep at our fingertips.
Thank you for the way you have collected the world’s parenting wisdom. Thank you for helping us decide what to buy, how to feed, how to sleep train (or not sleep train), how to decorate the nursery. Thank you for ALWAYS having an idea when we’ve reached the end of our wits.
Thank you for connecting us to others, so many others, in the midst of the same magic, mystery, and beautiful parenting moments.
Thank you for reminding us that we aren’t in this alone.
Wishing you and yours a very grateful, very Happy Thanksgiving.