You are the Expert

I remember when we first took our daughter home from the hospital. The nurse handed us our baby, we signed some paperwork, and then my husband pushed me down the hall in a wheelchair.

Inside I felt a small degree of terror. My inner dialogue went something like this: "How are you going to let me go home with this child? Are you sure I'm qualified? Don't you need to do a background check or something more official?"

This is the beauty of parenthood. YOU are perfectly designed to be the expert in your child.

I've come back to this moment over the past 5 years of parenting. No nurse, no doctor, no preschool teacher, no babysitter or grandparent knows my kid like I do.

For you mamas out there, you carried this baby in your womb inside of you for 9 months. You've known every freckle, dimple, cry, and whimper. You know their strengths and weaknesses inside and out. You also know what they're capable of.

That means that I can trust my GUT, and know that I am uniquely positioned to lead my child - I have the solutions inside of me.

I've had to lean into this truth in the midst of toddler tantrums and big kid emotions. I've had to lean into this truth when the opinions of outsiders threatened to cast a shadow on my path. I can be faced with the temptation to be overwhelmed, or I can be secure in the truth that I have what it takes to parent well and set my family up for success.

If you're a new parent, hang on to this truth today: You have what it takes. You have what it takes to parent well. It doesn't mean that you can't lean into your community of support, but don't waver from the truth that YOU are the expert in your baby.