Take young Willow Smith for example who has a whole life outside of being Will and Jada’s daughter.  Shown in this photo channeling Rihanna, Grace Jones and Jackie Collins (Jackie gets mentioned on account of the leopard print and superior quiff volume that Willow is sporting), Willow’s day job is singing, specifically the song Whip My Hair.  I’m helpfully embedding the video clip in this post because heaven knows, don’t we all need a little pre teen pop in our day?

The reason I have Willow’s song in my head right now is because it’s been one of those days when a song manages to completely encapsulate what you were doing and how you felt doing it.

I was sitting on the sofa with Baby SSG in my arms trying my best to be the baby cry whisperer.  This involved willing myself to feel calm and hence radiate calm with my touch and voice whilst trying not to take the vibrato, multi toned caterwaul personally.  I’ll spare you a photo or video clip but it’s the one where his mouth opens into an ‘O’ that takes up about half his face causing his tightly shut eyes to crinkle, his head to jerk back defiantly and the visible parts of his face to go a deep red.  As dramatic as it all looks, it also happens to be the one cry which Dr Google can’t interpret for me.

The minutes (that felt like hours) passed and my calm facade was disintegrating rapidly.  I’d run through the standard checklist of nappy/milk/hugs and chat/play (with baby or iPhone) a dozen times and nothing seemed to help.  I was left with no choice but to join in.  So we sat, baby and I, throwing our heads around and whippin’ our hair in the manner of young Willow.  It didn’t really work, possibly because neither of us had dreads but gee it felt good at the time.

In other news since last we spoke, I’ve upped the ante with my fitness regime.  Today was the first time in 25 weeks that I went for a run.  Not that I’ve been medically cleared to resume it but at 6am this morning, it just felt like the right thing to do.  I survived and feel all the better for it. To be honest, it was more of a walk with heavy breathing and heavier foot falls on the pavement but being out in the fresh morning air doing something that’s been routine for years made me feel alive and connected to the world beyond motherhood.

I’m not saying this with any resentment but looking after a newborn can be all encompassing to the point that it’s so easy to lose touch with the outside world.  Scarily, the outside world seems to include anyone who isn’t yourself or the baby.  With the benefit of a luxurious 3 hour afternoon nap and a day that finally had some element of routine and predictability, I think I’m finally ready to join the outside world on a more regular basis.