By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
(More)About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
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My mom recently retired. And I underestimated just how helpful she could be living half a country away.
This summer our son was excited to practice using my cell phone to call someone. We decided to call grandma because I knew she would be very patient with him if he accidentally left an extra long message on her answering machine, hung up too early, or didn’t always speak loudly or clearly enough.
Our son greatly enjoyed calling grandma this summer and telling her about his day and the books he was reading. I loved overhearing their conversations while playing with his sisters, cleaning and getting ready for dinner. It almost felt like I had an extra set of hands helping me manage the kids.
I’m so grateful to have uncovered one of the many perks of having a retired mother when parenting young kids. Even many miles away, she leant a patient listening ear. Of course we love when she flies out to lend a hand, but when that’s not possible, an extra set of listening ears is definitely a huge plus.
