Your Silver Linings

We are here to celebrate what we did love about, the bright spots we've been able to find and hopefully focus on during an otherwise super gloomy year. The little things that meant a lot are silver linings. Earlier in the year, we challenge moms to push back the clouds, discover those silver linings peeking through, and share them on what to expect. And now we're going to share some of those with you and invite you to share your own. I happen to be here with one of my silver linings. Emma.

I like to think I'm your greatest silver lining, but okay, I'll take it you're one of them. Let's put it that way. So this has been a hard year. Yeah, it's not been great. Let's not sugarcoat it, but let's talk about some of our silver linings. What were yours?

My silver lining is watching my two sons become friends and get this bomb that they probably wouldn't have a Seby would be in preschool, Lennox would be in school, and they would have their own separate lives, but they only have had each other, and they rely on each other, and they learned from each other. And you know, obviously they fight and they drive me easy. They learned for the better and the worst, right, But you know, watching that bond develop has been one of the most amazing

things I've ever witnessed in my life. And I am so incredibly grateful to be not only seeing it, but like living it and experiencing it, and you know, watching this friendship blossom. And Lennox tells me literally every single day he doesn't want to get married. He wants to live an apartment in a modern house with his brother, have bunk beds and play video games all day. And that's literally like the movie Stepbrothers. And it kind of freaks me out, Like, come on, guys, but you know what,

God bless, I love it. They're my silver lining for me. The hard part of was actually, and people are surprised to hear this because they think you're always on a plane. It's so exhausting, But not being on the road and being at home has been the hard part because when I'm on the road, I get to be hugging thousands of moms and snuggling thousands of babies. I can't imagine your withdrawals right now. Mom, Oh, it's so hard. It's

so hard. And you know the virtual hugs that I get when I do events virtually, you know, it's a stop gap measure. It's way better than nothing at all. But it's just not the same. But the funny thing is that my silver lining has also been not being on the road, and that's because no, I don't get to hug thousands of moms, but I do get to hug my grandson's more often than I otherwise would have, and we get to have weekly family dinners, which we

never were able to do before. Of course, that means I have to cook every week, So that's maybe not maybe that's a cloud, and that's overlyances overligning for us, though yeah, for sure. But I get to see so much more of Lennox and Seby than I otherwise would, and for me, that's about as good as it gets. And I also one other perk is that I actually had time, finally to do a podcast and do it with you, because from the road it wouldn't be so easy. No,

So God bless that. So we heard from so many moms in our What to Expect community about their silver linings, and I just want to share some of the themes because I think they're super relatable. Please, So, if you were pregnant during the pandemic or you're still pregnant during the pandemic, I feel like a lot of people got pregnant during the pandemic. That that is true, that there's a lot of silver linings up there. But some of the things that they mentioned, it's funny I hadn't even

thought of. It's like not having to throw up at the office, Like you get to throw up in the comfort of your home. That's a plus, right, that is a plus. Yeah, And you're not always running to the bathroom to pee, or you don't. I mean, obviously you're still running to your bathroom, but it's a lot closer, and you don't have to explain why you're always getting

up to pe. You probably don't have to spill the pregnancy beans as early because you're not in the office and when you're on zoom meetings you only see the top half. You don't have to spend a lot of money on maternity clothes. Lots of moms mentioned that because you don't have to buy the work maternity clothes, you can just actually do your husband's sweatpants as you grow. You don't have to fit yours hole and feed into

work shoes. You can be barefoot and pregnant. So when I asked you about your solar linings on Facebook, so many of you sent me pictures of your little bundles of joy, and there are lots and lots of them. Here are some pregnancy silver linings from what to expect Community Moms was the best year because we created a baby. She's still cooking, but we couldn't have asked for a bigger blessing this year. Second that being able to spend more time with my hubby before the baby arrives. This

is a great one, as funny as it sounds. Not having to wear upra as these girls have gotten so big during my pregnancy. Even my new bigger bras are uncomfortable. I haven't worn abroad the entire pandemic. I'm not wearing one right now. I can feel my boobs on my stomach. You know what, I'm living it up. I feel your girlfriend. For the record, I'm wearing a bra. You do wear a bra, I don't. I do. I believe in support, so Kelly said, not having to commit to events and

being able to relax more amen in sweats. Girlfriend, I feel you. H then you don't have to cancel and you don't want to go and you can just it's just not happening. Great, you don't have to be the party pooper, that's right. So we also heard from new parents and young families who were thankful to have a chance to bond as a family. Emma, you spoke a

little bit about that. But with new families, often baby visitors, grandparents coming from everywhere around the country, family friends, everybody wants a piece of the baby, and during the pandemic that's been curtailed significantly, and that means fewer visitors. That's the downside, but it also meant that you know, families as a little unit got to bond um siblings had a chance to bond with each other. With a new baby, you didn't have to worry so much about visitors bearing

germs and unsolicited advice. You didn't have to clean up after them, you didn't have to prepare food for them, you didn't have to put on a bra for them. That's right. And then with the beads sometimes came the good. So families couldn't visit. But that also meant that in the birthing room, if your mother and your mother in law were both vying for a spot next to your berthing bed, and you actually didn't want either one there, or maybe you just wanted one of them. Either way,

nobody could be there except your partner. You know that's great. You could be like I wanted you both there nobody's but inside you're like, no, I want any of their review in there. Definitely, Catherine from what to Expect community message boards said, since the hospital didn't allow visitors the first few days post birth, I felt like we were in this little bubble, just the three of us, exhausted yet in awe of this little miracle, fumbling around figuring

things out. As first time parents without others always taking over, allowing us to actually learn and get to know each other. I think this is such a silver lining because inevitably family members, if they're at home with you, were in the hospital room with you, they're gonna try to take over, and that keeps you from learning, you know, the job on the job. And we have some more examples of

family silver linings from my Facebook page. Kelly said the time I got to spend with my husband and daughter, especially since she's just two, and I feel lucky that she has two full time parents. So sweet. Amanda said, we got to save a lot of money on daycare. Yep h, I proved to my office that we can work remote. Most awesome is the amount of vacation time I've been able to save. We were actually able to go on a family isolation vacation this year. Oh, isolation vacation.

That's amazing. That's a new term for and Sophia said, definitely the best year for us. Of course, that's before all I'll broke loose. We heard a lot about moms realizing their own strength and valuable family time you would never have otherwise gotten. Kaala on Facebook said my second was born, and I realized how strong I could be. And I feel like I'm starting to embrace simplicity. Emma, how about you? Are you embracing simplicity? I mean, I'm

definitely not as high maintenance as I was. Figuring a sweatshirt and sweatpants with dirty hair. I used to to think I'd need a manicure and pedicure. Not anymore, Angela said. We gained so much more family time. I actually really enjoyed the isolation. It brought back a lot of family traditions that we all seem to overlook as time goes by.

I think we all learned how to communicate better. Good for you, Angela, So Christie said, and she's one of my military mom's hobby is shipping out starting in January for a couple of years. A couple of years. Wow, that's a lot. So thanks to COVID, we got to spend so much more family time with him before he left. This one makes me so happy, Like it's like I actually am a little tary eyed like that to me is just amazing. Her husband's not just upstairs in this office,

he's in another country. That's one strong mama woman, you know.

Hearing these stories about silver linings really, you know, kind of helps me embrace everything a little bit more um and see the positive because you know, in the munday and day to day basis, like when you're you know, really struggling and the last thing you're thinking about is silver linings, and I think it's important to stop and be like, you know what, there are positives here and we should be enjoying them and you know, thinking about

those and not just like all the negatives. So I really appreciate this episode and I'm really feeling more empowered than I was when we started. Well that's good. There's another silver lining right there there. It is baby, And one of my silver linings too, is that I've gotten to spend more time on social media with my mom's um that's where it's at. So I've embraced that. I've gotten to see your babies grow and there's nothing like it.

So share your silver linings with us on what to Expect message boards or on our social media using the hashtag silver Linings challenge so we can keep the celebration going as we close out and greet one. Because lots of love and so many wishes for a healthy, safe and very happy holiday season from Emma, Me and the whole What to Expect family, Baby Love, My baby Love. I need you, Oh how I need you. Thanks for listening. Remember I'm always here for you. What to Expect is

always here for you. We're all in this together. For more on what you heard on today's episodes, visit what to Expect dot com slash podcast. You can also check out What to Expect when You're Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, and the What to Expect FP and We want to hear from you. Connect with us on our community message board or on our social media. You can find me at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at Emma Being w t E and of course at What to Expect.

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