I recently spoke to a mother of a 6 month old and 4 year old. She said, “Oh, she’s funny. I mean, well, she’s six months old… so… I just don’t have a lot of patience for that age.”

I know, it takes all kinds to make the world go round and I can see that for some those long nights and trying to figure out what every cry means can seem frustrating and tiresome. Once you get past the excitement of baby showers, decorating nurseries, and all the cute baby clothes, shoes, and accessories the “fun” can wear off.

Personally, that’s never really been the case with me. I adore newborns and infants. I remember many sleepless nights but I also remember the distinct feeling of satisfaction when the baby prefers you over just about anyone else on the planet.

Now that my “baby” is six, I’m long past those days and have no desire to go back. Sure, I miss cuddly infants, but I figure eventually I’ll get around to grandchildren. Eventually being the operative word there.

The funny thing about the last baby, much like most projects, is by the time you get to the last one you’ve figured out all the tricks that make life so much easier and you spend a great deal of time smacking yourself in the forehead going, “Geez, why didn’t I think of THAT with the first one!”

Potty training was the worst. In fact, I would venture to say that once you hit potty training it’s all downhill from there, that’s when real life starts and that honeymoon phase with it’s protective bubble of diapers, wipes, immobility, organized jars of baby food, and cute diaper bags all pop faster than a balloon left alone with a teething baby. (Not that I would do that or have done that! It was for illustration purposes, thank you!)

Somehow after dreading it and many frustrating and unproductive starts, we figured out the trick with Maggie that had potty training done in just a couple of days.

You know how pregnant women all complain that everyone tries to give them advice? Then invariably you find articles, blog posts, and books all written about “all that stuff they NEVER told me about having a baby!!!” I always picture many well-meaning, advice giving veteran mothers and grandmothers shaking their heads thinking, “Wow, tried to tell you but you were convinced you knew better!”

Which brings me to a recap of a post I wrote 4 years ago, 5 Things Every Mom Should Know, enjoy!

1. Exercise is important. While doctors and other experts love to emphasize kegels, I feel that another important exercise is often forgotten. Stand in your kitchen or bathroom, take a towel and put it on the floor, point your toe and put it on the towel, now begin swiping back and forth or in circles if your prefer. Do this as often as possible now to prevent cramping up later when you find yourself cleaning up various forms of vomit and other spilled liquids.

2. While silence is golden… it’s also a sure sign of catastrophe. There is no such thing as a “toddler playing quietly” if a toddler is quiet they are undoubtedly sharpening their graffiti skills on your brand new, freshly painted walls with a black sharpie.

3. Counting… yep, we all learned to count to ten, twenty and a hundred. We learned to count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s. As a mother you will continue to count… to three. You won’t get any further than that and if you do your job right, you won’t have to count much past one.

4. The importance of a good sense of smell. Dirty diapers aside, being able to smell will be a life-saver when it comes to unexpected goo globules on the floor. Guaranteed there are going to be things that you’ll want to smell instead of actually touching so that you will be able to ascertain the best way to clean it up.

5. You may be an immaculate housekeeper, on a bad day it might still be possible to eat off your floor safely… kudos to you, but I guarantee that a crawling baby will bring new insight to housekeeping. You’ve never noticed all the nooks and crannies crap can get into until you see your 9 month old carefully extracting “something” out of one and cramming it into his/her mouth.