New mamas and future mamas, listen up!

This week Mama Kat is asking her readers to give advice as part of Writer's Workshop. So - new and future mamas, even though you didn't ask, Mama Kat did, so this is not considered unsolicited advice - that thing we all hate so very much.

There are so many nuggets of wisdom I've got sitting up in this head of mine, just waiting to be shared with the world, but I'll just share a few of them with you today.

1. That mom in sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt you snickered at in Wal-Mart who had the screaming kid with something orange on his face, hair with something sticky in it, and only one shoe on? Maybe next time don't snicker at her. That's gonna be you some day. You can swear up and down all you want that you'll never take your kid in public if he's unpresentable, and that you will always look cute when you show your face in a large shopping center, but that will all be a big lie. Please proceed to #2.

2. The minute you say, "I'll never" is the minute fate will look upon you and laugh a hysterically deep and annoying belly laugh. I uttered those two fateful words in my head in regards to a couple of furry little beasts named Barney and Elmo. And to be honest with you, Barney and Elmo should be the new words for MOMMY GETS A SHOWER TODAY in our house. Seriously. You'll be surprised the things you'll do that you swore you never would. Go ahead, join me and the ranks of thousands of other neglectful and mean mothers who let their THREE month olds watch Baby Einstein so we could catch a quick nap or check our email. I dare you.

3. When you're pregnant, people will tell you - "You better sleep while you can!" with a look on their face that instantly makes you want to reach out and strangle them because you've heard that piece of advice a gajillion times. Really, they don't know what they're talking about. Sleep doesn't carry over after you have a baby. You won't sleep at the hospital after you have the baby, and you won't sleep in long stretches for an ungodly period of time after you bring your little bundle home. You could sleep your life away before you have kids and it won't matter one bit. So, you know what I say? Don't sleep! Party it up. Live a little. Shop at Target for 3 hours. Go to the grocery store and appreciate the fact that you can get 50 items in 20 minutes or less, and a small creature in your cart will not be shouting and screaming as if you are beating her silly, even though you're actually 2 feet away from her.

4. And, on the less funny and more practical side, there are things you are going to need at 2 in the morning, and no one will have given them to you at your baby shower because they were too busy buying you Johnny Jump Ups and Pack 'N Plays, which do not replace elecrolytes, cure yeast diaper rashes, or help in between doses of Tylenol. So, baby on the way? Go to the store and get these goodies so you actually have them when you need them: generic Pedialyte (come on - you have a baby now - time to start buying the storebrand, ladies!), generic Pedialyte pops, Hyland's teething tablets, Infant's Tylenol AND Infant's Motrin (and be sure to ask your pediatrician about how you can stagger these medications to keep your kid constantly drugged up...I mean contantly drugged up when they're in pain, of course), anti-fungal cream for yeast diaper rashes - if it says for athlete's foot or jock itch, that's what you're looking for, and go ahead and pick up some chocolate that you will bust out for yourself when you are dealing with all of the above problems at the very same time.

That wraps up my advice for the day.

But! if you have a daughter, a granddaughter, or a special little girl in your life, you might want to catch this last bit as well. In about three weeks, Laughing Through the Chaos is going to be a part of a book blog tour for the book The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence, and we have the opportunity to do a question and answer post with the author, Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out.

I haven't finished the book yet, but so far it's great. It's all about raising our daughters to be confident, assertive, and to be brave enough to go after what they want in life, rather than dealing with some of the issues so many of us who are raising daughters have, like being people pleasers, being passive agressive and afraid to say things like they are or not being confident enough to confront people in an appropriate manner. I am loving what this book stands for, and I hope that it will help me in my attempt to raise one heck of a girl who already has enough spunk and perhaps not enough fear.

Please leave a comment or email me at laughingthroughthechaos@gmail.com with your questions for Rachel Simmons. I'd like to email the questions in the next week so she has plenty of time to answer them. So...questions/ideas/concerns you have about raising a confident girl? I know I'll be asking about what us parents of infants can do to start off on the right track and do things the way we should before we hit the teen years. Shoot your questions and such my way, and then we'll hear what an expert has to say about it. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Now, head on over to Mama's Losin' It to join in the fun of Writer's Workshop.