ASK FOR HELP | If you and your baby are comfortable with people in your church, ask them if they'd mind hanging with your babe while you rehearse. Most people love babies. And most babies love attention. It's a perfect match! As moms it's easy to feel like you're burdening someone, but you're not. Unless, of course they say, Hey you're kinda being a burden.
*If stranger anxiety is an issue, which is really common starting as early as 5 months, start slow. Happy babies are secure babies. Hang out with your person for a couple days and let them take the reins with your babe while you're still in the room.
INVOLVE THEM | Best advice we got prior to becoming parents was, "Let your babies be a part of your life. Don't create a new one just for them." At this point in your life, you are someone. You have likes and dislikes. You have values and priorities and activities. And while those may shift over the coming years, let your kids see you in your sweet spots. You'll get so much joy out of watching them learn to love what you do.
The Mo's are worship leaders at this point in time. Our jobs, our values, our passions are tied up in music for the church. I want Symphony to see that and be a part of it.
LEARN TO COMPROMISE | Forcing a baby or toddler to do something they don't want to do is already a part of life. (Eating, sleeping, to name a couple) Find out what they do like to do and work that into the church/rehearsal routine.
Symphony hate being strapped in anything for too long. So forcing her to sit in a strapped stroller type was out of the question. But she loves music and watching Ty play guitar. So we set up her bassinet stroller with toys and books and set her right at the foot of the stage stairs so she can watch us. She lasts about 45 minutes, with us interacting and including her as much as we can. Then when one of our sweet church girls arrives, she takes over and everybody's happy!
LET GO OF IDEALS | Do what you can with what you have. Situations may not pan out the same every week. Babysitters will bail and dinner will be pureed meat in squeeze juice packets. That's okay. Or so I'm learning.
Ideally, my child would stay in one spot for the 2 hour rehearsal reading books and playing quietly. Reality, is she gets bored and has learned how to crawl. If your situation allows (and not all do), let your kiddo play on the carpet or floor near you or where you can see them. Yes, it's a little dirty. Yes, they put everything in their mouth. The new-mom part of me tried to anti-bacterialize the entire front of the church.
But that is also, an ideal.
REMEMBER THE BIGGER PICTURE | This one is subjective because each family has their own bigger picture. For us, the bigger picture is that the Mo's have been called to the local church family as worship pastors, and we find value in gathering in our community of faith, encouraging, equipping so that we all might be built up. We want our kids to see that, from the very beginning. We are striving to build a "living" legacy, of sorts.
What have you been called to that you want your kids to see?
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How have you introduced your babe into your work/family/busy life?
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Thursdays are my one(ish) day to open the Motherhood window of Mo Life. Because I know not all readers are mothers, I try to gush sparingly. But if you want to see more snippets of milestones, our nightly family walks and record snot bubbles, you can find me on Instagram. #yourewelcomeforthesnotpics
