I have been reading the book "What Mothers Do" by Naomi Stadlen and early on in it she laments the lack of normal English words to describe the intense process and varied activities involved in mothering, particularly the early stages with babies. She points out that many words exist to describe the type of bad mother - neglectful, abusive, impatient, over protective etc - but not the actions and deeds of the good mother. I had a think about this and you know I think she is right.
So mumsnetters here is my dictionary of some words I've used to describe my day and actions to DH as I mother DD now 8mo. Please fell free to add your own. Together we can create a baby-raising vocabulary!
Jiggling - the action of holding a wriggly baby on your knee/lap and using your voice, hands and massively exaggerated facial expressions to entertain them often while constantly bouncing them. This can go on for the best part of an hour several times a day, frequently seen in public waiting rooms. Physically exhausting.
example: "I spent the afternoon jiggling the baby".
being baby pinned - unable to reach a phone/door/go and pee/get a drink as you have spent ages getting the baby to settle and they fall asleep on your lap and you daren't move. Think of butterflies pinned into display cases in museums or Gulliver staked to the ground by hundreds of little Lilliputians.
example: "I was baby pinned until 3pm".
going on a baby walk - the action of strolling into town with pram/buggy once a day so you can see other human beings on the flimsy premise that your food cupboard really needs paper plates/dijon mustard/spring onions.
exploring - with older babies you lie or sit on the floor and react to some object as if it were utterly fascinating and extraordinary and you'd never seen it before with much stroking, ooh and aahing, sniffing poking etc until the baby takes notice and joins in.
example: "we explored the vacuum cleaner" as opposed to "I did the vacuuming".
reading - intensely watching the baby to see what tiny twitches of their facial muscles, slight change of cry or hand motion indicates pooping/hunger/tiredness/illness etc and responding accordingly. Has to be done for hundreds of hours before you become any good at it.
armtime - the time a baby is spent on your shoulder, hip, in arms everyday as they are calm and content there but will cry if you put them down anywhere. Different to cuddling as you are usually trying to do something else at the same time. Also physically exhausting.
example: "DD needed lots of armtime today".
poopalanche or mudslide - unbelievable amount of poo squidging out of a nappy and all over the baby's clothes.
Now I can describe my day to my husband like this "today I jiggled the baby while having breakfast then we had a lot of armtime as we got dressed and tidied the bedroom she smiled at herself in the mirror for the first time. Later we explored the TV remote control, you may want to wipe it dry before watching anything, then I read she was tired, rocked her to sleep and was baby pinned until 1pm. After lunch we went on a baby walk which is why you've got chicken livers, an iceberg lettuce and half an iced bun for tea. Had to deal with a poopalanche which upset her as she ended up in the bathroom sink, I should probably go and empty it, so she needed more armtime then I jiggled her while updating your mum on the phone." Husband "so you just made the bed then..."