Mommy Brain - Guest Post!

Today's mommy blogging guest is Miriam! She is a loving wife and a fabulous new mother. Her little guy made his debut in October and he is now four months old and keeps her very busy. Even though taking care of her family keeps her busy she also likes to craft, bake, blog, write, and run an Etsy shop! We are so pleased to have a guest post from this absolutely wonderful woman. 

We would love for you to check out her blog as well, you can do so at the link below. It's an uplifting blog about life, motherhood, and of course crafting!

 Miriam's Blog - Live Happy Thoughts

The “Mommy Brain” Crazy Train

“Pregnancy brain is the worst!” That is what people tell you, and during your first pregnancy you believe them because you don’t know any better, and it is awful. During my third trimester I cried in frustration at least once per day because of my pregnancy brain. I longed for the day when I would be able to hold thoughts in my head again, and my baby in my arms, but that day still hasn’t come. The truth is: pregnancy brain is nothing compared to mommy brain.

Mommy brain is more than exhaustion induced sluggishness or pregnancy induced dementia. It is a vexing dance of forgetting and remembering at the same time, with thoughts lingering on your brain for one second only, then turbulently replaced with a new one. This alteration in brain power will cause many changes. Here are five you may notice:

You become the most random person you know.

“The baby had another blow out, which reminds me that we need more diapers (phew, glad I got that one out), also I want to make everyone matching Christmas pjs, and …oh crap! Um…this wasn’t it, but we need to defrost some beef for dinner.” At first my husband would raise an eyebrow, keeping his thoughts to himself, but now this sort of slap dash communication is commonplace in our life. He doesn’t even blink, but instead repeats “diapers, Christmas pajamas, beef. Got it,” in an effort to reassure me that someone will remember.

You won’t usually remember, but when you do it will be when you’re trying to sleep.

If I had a nickel for every time I woke up in the night, suddenly remembering a slew of things I had forgotten during the day… “Oh man, I don’t want to forget that again. Should I wake up--? No, no just grab some paper. Where to find…? Oh dang, it’s gone... I’m going back to sleep.”

When you do remember something you didn’t write down you feel like a champion. I won a spelling Bee in the second grade and felt like I was literally on top of the world. I didn’t think any accomplishment would ever eclipse that moment of blissful and total success, but I was wrong. As an example I have included a recent conversation had at the grocery store.

Husband: “I feel like we need something else, what are we forgetting?

Me: “Um…”

Husband: “Do we need cereal?”

Me: “No…”

Husband: “Hmmm….”

Me (in a loud, overly enthusiastic voice that makes passersby jump in surprise and look at us): “Bread!”

Euphoria ensues!

Your forgetfulness causes you to look little, well, homeless.

Pretty much every time I leave the house I realize that I look like a cross between a stray dog and a war refugee. This is usually because even though I tried my hardest to remember to change my shirt (which is covered in spit up), or to brush my hair, or put on a little make up I ultimately find that I am out in the real world having accomplished none of those things. I am smelly, tangled, and have made no attempt to camouflage the bags under my eyes. Gone are the days when I would feel a jolt of panic upon realization that I had left the house without putting earrings in. I can barely remember what earrings look like? Do I own any?

You have a new set of skills

Sure simple addition makes you scratch your head occasionally, you mix up words when you speak, and you can’t remember where anything is. Who cares? Now, you can change a dirty diaper in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, you are capable of performing nearly every task with one arm, instead of two, (this means that if you do happen to remember the mountain of dirty laundry you at least have a fighting chance). You have inexplicably ninja-like reflexes. Everything else about you may be firing extra slow, but when your baby is in an even slightly dangerous situation your on the scene quicker than lightning. These new skills may not impress the masses, but they will impress your family, and they are particularly well suited to your new set of tasks.

So, the question is: where did all that extra brain space go? Recent research suggests that a woman’s brain becomes very plastic just after giving birth, growing so that she can better care for her baby. It’s true that motherhood brings a plethora of extra responsibility making your brain a little crowded, but I believe there is more to it. I think the cranial real estate gets bought out by something far more worthy. No matter how difficult your parental journey is there is an awful lot of extra love and happiness thrown into life, and when your heart gets too full you have to store the excess somewhere. So enjoy the joy and take all of your mommy brain related faux pas in stride.