My “Charmed” Life!

by Cheryl Petran

My daughter turned one on Saturday. I only cried once! Looking back on the last 12 months I can honestly say it’s been the craziest ride of my life. I can’t help but think of last March, and with my "type A" personality it frightens me to think of just how bored I was. My daughter’s nursery was complete, I was way ahead on my work projects, I had "nested" my way through the entire house, and my ob/gyn had told me to take it easy and lay off the workouts. As I anxiously awaited the birth of my daughter – each day moved tragically slow – I had no desire to leave my house.

With family living in other states – at the time, my world consisted of my husband and my three best friends: Piper, Phoebe & Paige (you know, the three sister characters from the show “Charmed”). I look back and think – Oh my God, how pathetic was I? Did I mention that I had a crush on Piper’s husband Leo? (ok, so I was really pathetic)

Now however, 12 months later I find myself flashing back to one specific episode of Charmed. In this episode, the oldest sister Piper (mother of 2 – one baby and one toddler) found herself magically transformed into the Hindu goddess of motherhood. She suddenly had 4 sets of arms which allowed her to better respond to the needs of her children and husband. I think now – I long for that existence – the writers of Charmed were truly onto something. On top of that, the more Piper was able to care for her family the more attractive and sexy her husband found her to be! (what were these guys smoking?)

Being a Mom has been exciting, exhausting, thrilling, confusing, frustrating, exhilarating, difficult, fun, emotionally draining and awesome! I never imagined one tiny little person could be so much work! I have always appreciated my Mom but now more than ever I understand her and respect her for her ability to do so much and to do it so well! She raised 3 children with 3.5 years between all of us. How did she do it? How did she manage 3 toddlers at one time?

She just did it. She made it happen. She had help from my Dad and their family and friends but she made it happen and took one day at a time. She was instinctually a fabulous Mom and I can see it even more now as she spends time with my daughter. I think now a days with all the new technology and the amount of information at our fingertips – being a Mom has become that more confusing. Sometimes – the simplest decisions with regards to our child is “over thought”. There is so much information out there for all of us – there are so many conflicting and varying opinions.

I've learned a great deal in the last year. I've learned to research things I'm unsure of, talk to lots of people (the experts, experienced and the know-it-alls) and ultimately “trust my gut” and go with what feels best to me. If I do that – I can’t go wrong because my heart won’t allow me to make a bad decision when it comes to my precious wonderful little girl!

Most importantly, I've learned that while we don't have 4 sets of arms, usually if we open our eyes and look around us – we will find 3 other sets of arms (attached to loving family, friends & other moms) that are more than happy to assist us. I encourage all new Moms to welcome this type of help with your two open arms. If you do this, it will help you to keep things in perspective – it will help you to enjoy that little bundle of joy as much as you can! I know I did.