Asking for Help

One of my biggest fears is having to asking for help from others. I've always tried to be self-sufficient, so when I married into my husband's family I quickly found that this was a family all about involvement and "how can I help?"... which is not what I was used to at all.

Ever since the colic days, I've realized how needy I am and how blessed I am with the family I married into. When Daniel reached the height of his shrieking and was crying until he was purple, I spent nearly all day with my mother in law, which consisted of us passing him back and forth so the other could take a rest from trying to console him.

And up to that point, I had been trying to do everything all on my own, without bringing him over for much more than a hour or so to visit. When he started to act less and less like a sweet sleepy newborn (as the colic set in) I tried to bring him only when they would 'enjoy' him. Of course when he started to slip into the screaming and crying, I realized that I needed help and that I would have to suck it up and ask for it.

During the colicky days, my formerly relaxed baby required constant walking around, swaying and trying to soothe him. Or else he would scream his little head off. When he turned 3 weeks old, all of his daytime naps stopped... which meant that all my sleep also stopped. I asked my mother in law if she could watch him for a few hours, and she happily accepted. Thank God for her, because without her help, I'm not sure how I would have functioned. I would have been sleep-deprived, in a disastrous house with no time to even think straight.

Since my in laws live in the same apartment building as us, it felt like I could easily be asking for too much help and possibly imposing. But my husband reminded me that I have been receiving help from her in the same way that she received help from her mother in law and sister in law when she had her two babies. And to quit overthinking it.

This entire parenting experience has been very humbling. 

So tell me...

When you had children, did you find yourself asking for help?

Are you a independent person, or embrace assistance?

Were you blessed by a great family of in-laws, or did you go through this experience solo?
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Here's what I wrote for the letter "A" in 2014:
April Fools

Growing up, I was basically an only child. My parents were both married before each other, and had kids with their first spouses. When they got married and had me, I was the only kid I knew for a large chunk of my childhood. Needless to say I did my fair share of pranking my poor mother... Click the link to read the rest...

This post was brought to you by the A-Z Challenge:

                 
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