I saved the best post for last!  As a mom of a 4 year old, 2 year old and 8  month old, I learned the value of laughter!

Laughter is a good medicine. It balms the soul when the waves of anxiety buffet.  It clears the mind when lists and deadlines loom. It reminds us that life is still fun even if we do not enjoy the responsibilities consuming our thoughts.

Honestly, stop and think: have you laughed today? When I start taking life way too seriously, when the house and the kids make me respond in short, curt answers, I stop what I am doing and find a way to ease up.

What is there to laugh at? A silly hat on a toddler’s head.  A preschooler magically turning into a doggie.  A dog scooting its rear across the floor.

When we let our lists and worries control our mood, we need to stop, drop, and laugh!

Close the laptop. Turn the phone on silent. Turn up the stereo and dance! Sing a silly song at the top of your lungs. Tickle your baby until her laughter is so contagious your grey skies are bright blue.

Feel it. Be in that moment.

Your back, your neck, your head, your mood – will all thank you for caring for your mental health. Of all the daily multi-vitamins to take, your laughter is the most important.

What have you laughed at today?

A few days ago, I visited one of those enormous baby depots filled with approximately twelve billion useless plastic contraptions.  A friend of mine is expecting and judging by the wish list she handed me, she’s hoping to have at least ten billion of those useless plastic contraptions adorning her home before she delivers the baby.

Oh, I had one of those wish lists once.  I remember eagerly anticipating my baby shower.  I was so hugely pregnant that I quite nearly had my own gravitational pull and after the baby shower was over, I felt prepared.  We had a bouncer!  A car-seat!  A swing!  Strollers!  Walkers!  Toys!  Soaps!  Washcloths!  Bottles!  And at least five thousand newborn onesies.

In retrospect, I would have been better prepared if people kept their money and brought an index card with the best parenting advice they ever received.  At the time, it seemed like we NEEDED these things and I could not imagine raising a child without them.  But it turned out that all we needed – truly needed – were my breasts, a baby carrier, a dozen cotton diapers, two or three onesies, and a car-seat.

My husband and I joke that our daughter is the cheapest baby on the block.  We donated almost all of the baby equipment people gave us.  We dress her in hand-me-downs.  We crafted natural toys and bought secondhand children’s books.  I breast-feed, we cloth-diaper, and we co-sleep.  We use baby carriers, make our own soap, and use cloth wipes at room temperature.  Her baby food – even her teething biscuits – are homemade and some of it is even homegrown.

Somewhere along the line, our society told us that having a baby is expensive.  BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE.  My child is living proof that babies can (and will) thrive without snazzy plastic toys or endless stacks of costly disposable diapers or the latest mom-and-me class.

Lately, my husband and I have been talking about what we will do differently with our second child.  Next time, we’ll be more prepared – but not because we have more stuff.  We’ll be more prepared because we know what to expect and we know what a child needs.

A child needs milk, love, a reliable parent, and not much else.  How interesting to find that what a baby cannot do without are those things that money cannot buy.

In the end, I gave my friend a voucher redeemable for one night out instead of picking a plastic behemoth from her baby shower wish list.  She’ll find out soon enough that most of those baby items are a waste of space anyway; friendship, on the other hand, is the handiest tool in a parent’s bag of tricks.

How interesting to find that what we as adults cannot do without is another little something that money cannot buy.

Touch is your baby’s most highly developed sense at birth, and was the first sense her brain registered during gestation. Because of this, and because touch is the most ancient sense from an evolutionary perspective, it is known as the mother of the senses. This ancient sense allows you to reassure, nurture and build your baby’s strength through a gentle caress. As the primary method of communication between you and your baby, touch can be an expression of love that offers many benefits for your baby’s healthy growth, immunity, sensory development, and cognitive development.

Massage is a form of touch that can help babies grow more quickly and soundly, exhibit more playfulness and less fear, tolerate stress better and have stronger immune systems. With frequent physical contact, babies can start crawling, grabbing and walking earlier, sleep better, fuss less and have bigger brains with higher IQs. Massage will even influence your baby’s hormone levels, elevating oxytocin, to help her respond positively to stressful situations. It provides enhanced physical and emotional health, resulting in a stronger immune system that is more prepared to handle the challenges in our environment today.

“Being touched and caressed, being massaged, is food for the infant. Food as necessary as minerals, vitamins, and proteins.” Frederick Leboyer, M.D.

For a new mom, receiving massage can have the same benefits as it does for baby, and more. Massage may help relieve fatigue and muscle soreness to help with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and nervous tension. It can improve circulation and help achieve a relaxed state of mind that is nurturing for both baby and mom. These physical benefits enhance immunity and help to create a mental and physical environment that is more rewarding and nurturing for everyone involved.

Massage provides family members with a beautiful opportunity to support each other and share even more love through the trials and triumphs of new baby care. Always check with your doctor before massaging your baby to find out about special circumstances and precautions.

Copyright 2009 Kim Walls www.episencial.com
To find out more about Kim Ask Kim a question about organic natural skincare for Baby Skin Stages on Twitter

Many children strongly prefer one parent over every other person in the world for a brief period of time. Usually, they prefer their mothers for a period (ranging in length from approximately one month to several months) during the later part of their first year. During this particular time, her desire for you is especially intense, as she is in the midst of a developmental phase characterized by separation anxiety.

Often after children grow out of this stage, they will prefer their fathers over everyone else on the face of the earth. Generally the period they attach to their fathers is shorter than the period when only their mothers can make the world a better place.

Right now this all seems very difficult, but it will pass. One day, in what I am afraid is the very near future; your daughter will be a well-adjusted adolescent. When she skips out the door with a casual, “Bye, Mom,” you’ll remember the time when you were the center of her world and all the tiredness and frustration you now feel will seem a small price to pay.