The Adventures of Blueberry: How being a sorority girl prepared me for motherhood

I have recently been getting more involved with my sorority alumni group again. I have always had a passion for my sorority, but for some reason now that I am a mom I feel the desire to be surrounded even more by their wisdom and influence. Perhaps it is the insurgence of anchor baby gear out there recently...

This onesie with matching socks is from Old Navy

Either way, this past weekend I was able to spend 4 days in the presence of some of the most amazing women from the Fraternity during our Phoenix-hosted convention. It was full of hard work, joy, and amazing leadership that inspired me and moved me. I love feeling reconnected to our purpose and to the organization that gave me my first job out of college, my best friends, my husband, and so much more over the years.

So, in honor of Delta Gamma and all the memories, here are the ways that being a sorority girl prepared me for motherhood:

1. Crafts. The stereotype is quite true here. Being in a sorority, or in Delta Gamma's case, an international fraternity, requires some level of craftiness. From designing anchors for initiation, to decorating for recruitment, I painted, scrapbooked, and designed my little heart out all of college. This naturally translates into doing the same for my son, from designing birth announcements to decorating his nursery.

2. Late nights. So many of my nights in college were filled with friends, long talks, and sometimes the occasional crazy late night snack runs after parties. Sometimes we cried. Sometimes we laughed until we cried. Sometimes we still get together and repeat these late nights. So, when my son decided to be a night owl, I was not surprised. He loves to stay up until 10 or even 11 these days. And of course, there is always the middle of the night wake ups, which are a lot less painful when I've become more accustomed to late night schedules!

3. Screaming. Sometimes, sorority girls scream. Often, these are playful or cheerful screams rooting each other on in sports, dance marathons, award ceremonies, concerts... We scream our cheers to let others know who we are during recruitment. Yet, sometimes, we scream at each other. It is a side effect of placing hoards of women in the same place for extended periods of time during recruitment, or retreat, or just because we love each other so much we just lose it once in awhile. When Emerson screams, I just walk away for a few breaths and try to figure out the cause. When I can fix it, I do. When it is because he is just so happy, I just cheer along with him!

4. Emotional roller coasters. I think this is pretty self-explanatory. Supporting sisters during tough times, like the loss of a family member, and joyful times, like the many weddings we were all at and in, caused tears for so many reasons. Sometimes we had to say goodbye, and sometimes we embraced in a reunion. Likewise, pregnancy was just the beginning of the hormonal flux of emotion. Sleepless nights and life's stresses added to this roller coaster ride during the first months of motherhood. Now, the emotions continue to flow, unexpected and unwanted at times (darn Google and Carter's commercials) and completely expected at other times (that first smile of recognition, dropping him off for daycare). I am hanging on and enjoying the ride, even if it does require that I take stock in Kleenex.

5. Singing. This skill really started for me before college, in high school, during show choir. It continued when I was song leader for the chapter. Now, everything is a song. Emerson gets a chorus for every occasion, from putting him to sleep at night, to getting him up in the morning. "It's Diaper Time" is his dad's favorite tune. I like "Little Baby Emerson". Just like the sorority songs catered the lyrics to our causes, so do we for Emerson. Hopefully he doesn't care that I can't carry a tune as well as I used to be able to.

6. Support. My sisters and I have supported each other through so many life changes. We continue to be a support system as we all become mothers and can reaffirm each other and help clarify questions when needed. I don't know what I would do without my DGs and all they have done to support me through these past 18 months, really.

There is just so much that being a part of a sorority/Fraternity can provide for young women out there, just like it did for me. When I brought Emerson to Convention over the weekend, every DG momma out there offered to hold him, played with him, smiled at him, and took in the joy that he spreads with every bright-eyed smile. And he wore his anchors proudly as mommy's little anchor man!