The Challenge: leave your neighborhood!
There is only so long a rookie mom can stay inside during a cold winter before she just about loses her mind. So, on a recent Friday, I decided we needed to just do it: go out and walk. I know that seems like a simple task, but with the winter we’ve had in New York, even just walking in our neighborhood was near impossible. I decided this was a perfect opportunity to complete Rookie Moms Challenge #15, leave your neighborhood! We drove east to Northport, a quaint village near the water.
My mother did come along for this challenge, but let it be known that all she did was play the role of photographer; she didn’t even hold doors for me!
Follow that rookie mom!
The hard thing about taking a baby somewhere unfamiliar is all the questions: where to park? where can I change him? where’s a warm store to duck into? I put my anxieties aside, bundled him up, and off we went. Weston loves being outside, so that helped a lot; he was happy to watch cars and feel the cool breeze on his face.
I started over to the playground to try out a baby swing, as per the challenge. On the way there, something wonderful happened: I met another rookie mom! She lives in the area, has an adorable baby girl a few months younger than Weston, and was really open and nice. It’s nerve-wracking meeting other new moms. We traded stories for a few minutes about how the babies don’t sleep, and I said how I would love to get her number and maybe we could meet up sometime. She was more than happy to swap numbers. I was really proud of myself, and of Weston, who gave her a giant flirtatious grin.
It’s a big world, kid!
Alas, the playground was covered in snow, so we walked over to the bakery. I was a little nervous that he would lose his cool when we got inside the delicious smelling bakery, but he was entranced by the smells, the kids, the bright colors. We got coffee and sat down; he started to fuss a bit, so I pulled out the bottle I had already made for him and calmly fed him.
He finished his bottle and hung out on my lap; kids and old ladies were waving at him from all over the bakery, as he smiled and opened his eyes wide at everything. A student of mine and his mother came over, and we ended up chatting with them for a long time; Weston was enthralled by my student and kept smiling and jumping for him. I was really proud of my boy! He was becoming a real person in the big world. Once he started to rub his eyes we packed it in and headed home.
I was in shock with how easy the whole outing was. He was happy and content from start to finish. And, I did it all on my own. Stroller, diaper bag, ice, snow, baby; that was all me!
This trip was totally a confidence booster and I’m already excited for our next big adventure.
[All photos taken by my mom, all rights reserved]
Find more baby activities with the 52 weekly rookie mom challenges.
If you’re already participating, use hashtag #rookiemoms on instagram or twitter so we can cheer each other on.
