My sunglasses are somewhere in an orchard in Portland, TN. My CamelBak bottle is probably floating somewhere around the Y, but I’m not sure.
When I was expecting my first child, I complained to a friend about my new absent-mindedness.
“I dipped my asparagus in ketchup! I used to be smart!” I wailed.
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| Excellent picture by my excellent husband. |
She didn’t cushion the blow: “It never ends,” she said. “My daughter is two, and I’m still experiencing that.”
She was right.
Pregnancy hormones are notorious for their brain-sucking abilities, but mommy brain isn’t limited to those few months.
Whether it’s continued hormonal changes, lack of sleep, too much to do, or (perish the thought!) getting older, mommy brain just becomes a fact of life eventually.
I frequently come home from the grocery store with a completely random product I picked up by mistake: raspberry jelly instead of strawberry, or barbeque chicken wings instead of plain chicken breasts.
And then there is the purse issue. I switch purses and bags so often throughout the week that my wallet inevitably gets left at home occasionally. Once I discovered its absence while attempting to pay for $200 of groceries at Publix while my kids squirmed in the shopping cart.
I used to be a good copy editor, able to catch mistakes and grammatical errors quickly and easily. Now I find myself in need of my own editor.
A friend of mine recently wrote about the cost that comes with the choice of raising children, and I’m realizing that “mommy brain,” too, may be part of that cost.
I wouldn’t trade the experience. The humbling act of explaining to a police officer why I don’t have my driver’s license is probably a healthy antidote to my pride, anyway.
But if I could remember to get toilet paper at the store…..yeah, that would be nice. In the meantime, I’ll praise God for smartphones and keep my To Do List and Calendar by my side.
I have a dear friend, an attorney, who chose to stay home with her children. She told me that she researched “mommy brain” and it’s a hormonal necessity because if women didn’t get “mommy brian” post childbirth (primarily 1st child) none of us would have a second!