Little Man is now an 18-pound healthy 6-month-old boy. He is currently working on learning to eat solid food. He enjoys holding the food and sucking on it but is still figuring out that he needs to swallow it. He has gotten pretty confident in sitting up on his own for short periods of time and is getting comfortable reaching out for toys while sitting. He absolutely loves holding on to anyone’s fingers and standing up to look around at the world. He currently is still toothless, but I believe that there are teeth emerging soon.

I know that Little Man won’t remember anything of this age. He won’t remember his first Christmas or his first couple of vacations. He won’t remember his first experience with food or the pain of getting his first tooth. He won’t remember me getting frustrated with his screaming and crying. But I might. I might remember how little patience I had with him when he was out of routine and overstimulated the days after Christmas. I might remember yelling shut up at him or having to put him in his crib for a couple of minutes to recompose myself. But I don’t want to remember myself as that mom. I want to remember myself as the mom who took care of herself for her son.

I remember reading a blog post back before I was pregnant written by another mom. She was in a similar boat as me with frustrated children and being frustrated herself. I remember her writing that outside or water can cure any bad mood. I really took that to heart when I became a mom and last week, when Little Man was being extra grumpy, I decided to fill up the tub and put each of us in a bathing suit and splash around. We even broke out one of his new Christmas bath bombs from Lush since he is able to use them now that he is 6 months old.

We spent a half-hour in the tub until it started to get too cool. We splashed together and played with his bath toys. We got the bathroom floor a little too wet and accidentally got the dog wet. But his bad mood was completely gone. The water was a magic cure-all. And it wasn’t the first time I had used the water to fix a bad mood.

When Little Man grows older and time passes, I want to always remember that memory because while it started with an angry little boy and a frustrated parent, it ended with giggles, splashes, and cuddles. I don’t want him growing up thinking that mom was always angry or frustrated. I want him to grow up knowing that mom is always there for him and that she will always be there for him regardless of his bad mood.

So, my advice to any new mom is to trust that outside and water are magical when it comes to getting rid of any bad mood, yours or theirs. And even if you need 5 minutes to yourself, you can always lay them in their crib so that you can recompose yourself.

This is my New Year’s Resolution. I want to be more patient with Little Man and I know that outside and water will always help. Not only did it fix Little Man’s mood and mine as well. I couldn’t believe how fast my frustration disappeared when he and I climbed into the tub and dissolved the bath bomb. My other resolution is to write more consistently in this blog so wish me luck since this blog post took me three days to write due to Little Man deciding that naps should be no longer than 30 minutes.