It’s only noon and I have already thought to myself more than once that today is a “bad day.”

Our cat woke up Mason this morning before he was ready to get up, so he woke up a little grumpy and I did as well. Oh well.

A couple of hours later I go to put mason down for a nap in his crib which is always a struggle. He fussed for 10-15 minutes but then fell asleep! Awesome! I jumped in the shower (but didn’t wash my hair), got out, and decided to put on workout clothes because today I was going to do some workouts in my living room while the baby napped! As soon as I got dressed Madon woke up. He only slept for 30 minutes, ugh come on! So I pick him up out of his crib and rock him a little and he falls back to sleep no problem. I lay him back down and head for the door and he is wide awake crying! I repeat this cycle 3 more times (each time letting him cry for 5-10 minutes) until I decide it’s no use.

So out to the living room we go. I turn on the tv and put Mason in his swing and do a few workouts until Mason decides he’s done in the swing. At this point he’s super tired and rubbing his eyes. So I feed him and try to lay him down on my bed. Repeat the process from earlier of trying to get him to nap: Unsuccessful. The whole time I’m getting more frustrated because I can’t get my baby to take a nap and I have things I want to do! I already feel like a failure of a wife constantly because I rarely have a full, thoughtout dinner prepared when Mark gets home from work. The house is always a mess. (Mark spent his entire Saturday deep cleaning the house, which I was extremely grateful for but felt bad because I should be doing that, not him.)

But then Mason fell asleep on my shoulder. At first I was annoyed because that’s the only place he will nap unless we go on a long car ride. I thought about trying to lay him down again until a feeling came over me that I needed to just sit down and enjoy the moment. My workout could wait (although my squishy body would disagree), the house work could be done later and Mark will still love me when he gets home despite all the things I didn’t get done. Because he knows I love our baby more than all those other things.

I hope someday I will be able to get Mason to be a better napper but today I will hold him while he sleeps on my shoulder.

I never thought much about what you teach boys vs. girls until my son came along and now I stress over it too often. I don’t have any brothers but I do have a fantastic husband who has opened my eyes as to what makes a man.

Our society is so confused. It seems to put so much emphasis on women being treated as equals that it has belittled boys and men. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe women should get their education and be paid as much as male coworkers, I have witnessed the opposite in my own life. But somehow in our fight to be treated equally we have downplayed the role of men in our homes and society.  Now having a son of my own, there are so many things I want him to learn that society no longer teaches or views as normal.

For instance, I want him to be a gentleman. I want him to always open doors for ladies. But the world often sees this as men treating women as incapable. I want him to see and know that women are and can be strong but should be treated delicately and respectfully. I want him to stand up for what’s right when it’s not popular. I want him to protect those that are smaller than him or who can’t stand up for themselves. I want him to be confident but not cocky. I want him to stand up for himself and not let others tear him down or walk all over him, but at the same time I want him to be sweet and gentle, yet brave and tough. He better never lay a finger on a woman but also never allow a woman to lay a hand on him.

As I write this I feel so overwhelmed with my responsibility as a mother of a boy. His heart is so sweet and pure, why do we as a society mess these perfect souls up so much?!

Luckily for me, he has some wonderful examples to watch and learn from; his father, his uncles, his grandfathers and his fathers’ friends.

I’m so grateful to be the mother of a boy and learn from him. I know it will be challenging teaching him things that are often viewed as “old fashioned” when the world is teaching him other things but I’m happy to add one more gentleman to the world!