Parenthood

my hierarchy of needs: new mom edition

February 18, 2017
Physiological

  • Sleep of any duration
  • Caffeine
  • WiFi
  • A fully charged iPhone
  • Enough space on said iPhone to store another few hundred photos without deleting apps, other photos, and/or increasing my iCloud storage capacity (again)
  • Netflix

Safety

  • At least 3 hrs of total sleep per night
  • Therapy
  • The ability run all of my errands by foot
  • A walking path cleared through baby toys in the living room
  • Turning on both the night shift and zoom settings of the iPhone for maximum screen darkness while scrolling through Feedly during a nighttime nursing session
  • Baby gear that can be easily disassembled or collapsed when not in use
  • A clear enough head to distinguish the brake pedal from the accelerator, my finger from a vegetable, and the cry of a baby from the meow of a cat

Love & belongingness

  • Living with the best baby in the universe
  • Having a wonderful, supportive husband (who also happens to go out of his way to buy me vegan chocolate)
  • Speaking to another adult in person during the day
  • Social media
  • Receiving GIF texts from my sisterfriends
  • Blogging
  • A vast internet-based support system of like-minded moms
  • Getting a big grin from the baby when I walk into the room

Esteem

  • Making the baby laugh or smile
  • Showering
  • Brushing every last knot out of my crazy postpartum hair
  • Painting my nails
  • Hearing the words “you are a good mom”
  • Remembering what I ate for dinner last night
  • Replacing at least one cup of coffee or can of soda with a glass of water
  • Leaving the house
  • Narrowly avoiding spit-up being deposited straight into my bra
Self-actualization
  • 4+ hrs of uninterrupted sleep
  • Not becoming anxious when the sun sets
  • The ability to speak coherently
  • Feeling alert and well rested
  • Drinking more water than coffee
  • Eating a meal that wasn’t prepared in an Instant Pot or by a dude in a sandwich shop
  • Remembering what happened between 10:39 pm, when I fell asleep on the couch, and midnight, when I woke up in my bed
  • Daring to think I could actually raise two children

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