Monday, March 27, 2006

The Selfishness before Selflessness

I’m learning an interesting (although dangerous) lesson. Pregnant women are allowed to be a bit selfish about everything from food portions to weekend plans. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’m unfairly using my “condition” to my advantage. How can I explain this without making it sound like Luke deserves a medal for bravery (although he probably does)? I just find myself taking a little more time (ok…and food) for myself and feeling a little less bad about it. Let me give some examples. I’ve begun going to the chiropractor, and I’m seriously considering monthly or biweekly massages. I’m also suddenly 100% behind the idea of getting a cleaning lady, and I don’t mind napping at 3:00pm on a Sunday. These are all things that I probably would have never considered before because they were always too expensive, too indulgent or just a waste of time. Now that I’m pregnant, my new motto is: I’ll gladly take that 90-minute massage and that bigger bowl of ice cream too.

Maybe it’s not even a matter of selfishness. It’s more an issue of having more needs than ever before and learning not to feel bad about that. I’m just not used to falling asleep on the couch or “needing to sit down.” Sometimes I feel useless or lazy. Look at the pregnant women chasing around 3 kids all day. I know that once Hailey comes along all of my effort and attention will be on her comfort, happiness, and safety. So, I guess that I should just enjoy these last few months of selfishness (or whatever you want to call it) before I give myself over to her every want and need.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you Alisa! I wish I looked at it that way when I was first pregnant. I never learned that lesson...
If it's all do-able then take advantage of it.

ann said...

Take it from me, playing the role of "Super Woman" is grossly under-rated and never rewarded. The best thing you can do for your children and, yes, even your husband, is to take care of yourself."Happy Mom = Happy Family." That should have been another refrigerator rule! You go girl!