My newborn son had just turned 11 weeks old, and I realized I hadn’t even touched his baby book to start recording all the details of the first few months of his life. The last 11 weeks had flown by, and in my sleep deprived state of barely knowing what day it was anymore, I figured I better get to writing or else the memories of the past few months were about to escape me any minute now!

I took to the baby book – and the first two pages were all about Mom and Dad. Easy enough I thought! Mom’s full name –easy, Mom’s age–yup I got that one, Mom’s birthplace—killing it, school’s I attended—I’m sure this will impress him, ANNNDDDD, Mom’s Interests…….??? Ok, totally freezing up here, completely drawing a blank. I’m sure I have interests, I just can’t think of any right now.  So in an effort to be productive, I moved on to Dad’s page. When I got to the part about Dad’s interests, my husband was close by, and he began to rattle off a boatload of interests and hobbies…poker, basketball, cooking, superheroes, I mean the list just flowed like a beautiful song full of hobbies and fun! One which he didn’t need to even think about the lyrics, it just came to him in that instant. So of course, I went right back to my page. Ok….focus….what are my interests?? BLANK – total blank. I’m fun I thought, I have interests, I can’t think of any right now in particular, but I’m sure I have interests! Sales, there you go- sales. Well it turns out that’s not an interest, that’s my job. Everything I thought of was my job actually; being a mom has been my #1 job for the last six and a half years when my first son was born. And apparently along with his birth came the death of my individuality as an interesting human being with actual interests and hobbies! So with that sad conclusion, baby book time came to a screeching halt.

It wasn’t until a few days later, that I saw this video and it was a little inspiring, a little beautiful, and a little bit of a relief. When I became a Mom six years ago, I put my son first in every sense of the word. He was my whole life. And then I got divorced, and I had sort of tunnel vision and it was more about survival at that time then enjoyment. And then I got re-married, and became a wife again, and now a mother to another little boy. And somewhere in between that bittersweet rollercoaster, I think it would be easy for anyone to lose sight of the things we do purely for fun and enjoyment.  So, that page in my sons baby book may have to be left alone for awhile –  maybe until I’m getting some sleep at night, or maybe when I can think about anything but when the last time I was able to get a shower was. But I think as mothers and wives, we can all take a little something with us from this video and take comfort in knowing that we truly are the glue that holds our families together. And if you’re anything like me, and your interests escape you at some point, just know that you aren’t the only one and that every day is another chance to find something that fulfills you as an individual. Enjoy!