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"I don&amp;#039;t want to jinx anything, but this morning when I brought Emmett to the sitter&amp;#039;s I felt oddly relaxed\u2014something I don&amp;#039;t think I&amp;#039;ve felt in, I don&amp;#039;t know, two years? As I walked I was ticking off items in my head that I often forget, but I knew I had packed diapers and wipes, his owl for nap time, and water shoes for the park. I knew his snacks were in order and he had all of his various sippy cups, as well as diaper cream, sunscreen, and a tiny tube of Neosporin. I&amp;#039;m not sure when it happened, but at some point (I guess slowly, over the past few weeks) the ever-present feeling of panic that&amp;#039;s made my chest tighten and my shoulders tense just ... dissipated. At some point in the very recent past, I think I may have finally settled into motherhood. Maybe it&amp;#039;s because Emmett&amp;#039;s getting older and it&amp;#039;s easier to anticipate his needs and his moods. Or maybe I finally let myself exhale fully for the first time in 700 or so days. Whatever it is, I&amp;#039;ve really been enjoying Emmett&amp;#039;s company lately. Of course he still freaks out at least once a day, but I think the constant, consistent discipline is finally (finally!) paying off. I think we&amp;#039;re finally starting to &amp;quot;get&amp;quot; each other.  Of course now that I&amp;#039;ve written all this Emmett and I will probably both be in complete meltdown mode tomorrow. But for today I&amp;#039;m going to enjoy the relative calm. How long did it take you to get the hang of motherhood? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/family-friends/a47127/finally-figuring-out-motherhood/?src=shelter_footer>