How To: Raise an Extraordinary Child
This is hard for me. Why? Because writing is not one of my strengths; its hard for me to put onto paper what freely comes out of my mouth. So, why in the world did I start a blog? Good question! The answer is because I have an extraordinary daughter that came to me and said, “Mom, I want to start a blog.”
After figuring out what a blog was, and why in the world we should start one, I realized that I read blogs every single day and never knew it. My next question was, what do we have to offer that is different from the blogs I’m already reading. It was Lucy who told me…big surprise! She said, “Mom, we’re special. We do something that no one else does. I’m eleven and we have a successful business together that we’ve been working since I was six!! Do you know anyone like us?” See, I forgot that she’s not ordinary!
I remember when Lucy was born, Chris and I were up all night, in labor and then bonding with her. The next evening we were exhausted. A friend from elementary school was the nurse in the nursery and convinced me to get some rest and she would take care of Lucy. About two hours later I heard a faint cry coming down the hall. I could feel Chris tense up next to me. The cry got closer and closer to our room. In came our screaming baby. The nurse said, “Tracy, I’ve tried everything and just can’t get her settled down.” I picked Lucy up and she immediately stopped crying and looked up into my eyes and gave me a look like, “What were you thinking sending me away like that?” I didn’t know how extraordinary she was but I have been learning from her ever since.
One of my first lessons to learn was how important sleep was to Lucy. P.S. She still gets frustrated with me because her bedtime is early. When she was about 3 months old I was out on a walk and met one of my neighbors with a baby just a few months older than Lucy. I must have looked pretty terrible because she gave me a book called Healthy Sleep Habits , Happy Child. You guys, this was a game changer for all of us! I still tell Lucy that sleep begets sleep. I truly believe that in order to be extraordinary you need good sleep. I will link the book at the end of the post. Trust me, if you have a baby, read it!
Lucy started talking when she was six months old. I actually didn’t remember that until I found an old video of her at her first Thanksgiving and she was saying words in her high chair. I guess the reason I forgot was because I thought that was just normal. I didn’t know any different and just rolled with it. She has challenged me to be a better mom from day one. When she talked to me, I just naturally replied. We have always had that kind of relationship. I learned early on in motherhood to never hold myself or her back because of what others told me it should be.
Once again, I’m heading out of my comfort zone on this journey called motherhood. I’m teaching and learning alongside this amazing kid. I’ve had many sleepless nights as a mom, most recently because of this blog. Trying to think of what to write and who I could help and who could help me!. I’m never sure I have much to offer others, but then I thought, you know what? I can help other moms just like me. Moms that think they are ordinary but are actually extraordinary because they have extraordinary kids; that’s every single mom out there!! Every one of our kids is special in their own way. What I’ve learned and want to teach is how to navigate through that by learning to grow with Lucy through a crafting business.
I hope you’ll find my journey helpful and interesting. If you have any ideas or comments please reach out to us! This will be a new adventure for us and we’ll need help and encouragement along the way!!
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