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happy friday + mom tears…

Ruby-pre-crawl

Ruby-pre-crawl

I'm a serious sap. Like probably the most sensitive person you know. I cry when I'm really happy or really sad or when Bob and I have serious disagreements. I was always "the cryer" amongst all of my friends…so much so that Bob was even warned about how much I cry from my friends before he started dating me! Ha. So this whole mom thing has really brought my über sensitivity to a new level. Commercials like this and this might have brought upon a tear, but now, anything that has to do with the parent/child connection…oh boy, sobbing, ugly cry for sure…


Watching my baby and the joy she has in her face when she sees something new or when she reaches another milestone or when she dances to the cha cha…it's constant barrage of emotions over here. It's kind of funny, kind of sad {I am mean, I'm losing my weight in salt here!}, and I guess it just kind of is what it is. Did you moms out there get more sensitive when you had babies? Have I entered this never-ending vat of sappiness? Hope you all have sappy {or, um…happy} weekends! — Joy

{Instagram photo of Ruby at 8 months}

69 comments

  1. You’re just the cutest. I’m not a mom yet (still trying) but I cry all the time! We have a 4 lb yorkie that I just love and stare at for hours. When friends talk about their babies, I talk about him.
    Stay sappy!

  2. Joy! Those commercials made me cry at work and I realized I am just as sappy, if not more so than you. I don’t have children of my own, but I consider my baby cousins to be my children and it has been (and will continue to be) a pleasure to watch them grow, learn, and change. My friends know me to be an endless crier and were shocked that I cried in the opening scene of Star Trek (spoiler alert: his mom died)–I mean I was trying to muffle my sobbing while my friend chastised me. Thanks so much for sharing!

  3. I’ve always been somewhat of a crier, but since I became pregnant in January, I’ve been a crying mess. Anything can make me cry- happy cries from sweet baby things/sweet things my hubby says to angry cries when someone steals all my donuts from the pantry… Its all mostly happy, though. 🙂

  4. I broke down crying over that google chrome commercial too! My poor husband was so sweet about it, but he must have been wondering if I’d lost my mind 🙂 The Pampers Miracle commercial gets me every time too…

  5. Though I’m not a Mom, I am a super sap. I’m always the person if there is a remotely sad or overly joyful moment that is silently bursting in to tears. At this point my friends have stopped being alarmed and find it typical, if not comical!

  6. What a terrible terrible idea opening those links at work lol!!!! i cried!
    And I think been a sappy it’s ok.. better that have an ice cold heart! 🙂

  7. i’m not a mom, but i’m crying all the time. seriously. it isn’t matter if it’s babies, or animals i’m sappy. what am i gonna do when i have a baby?

  8. So you’re THAT girl, huh? The cryer. lol!
    It just means you have a big heart, and there is nothing wrong with that. (Also, they definitely design those commercials to pull on your heartstrings, so know you’re not the only one shedding tears.)

  9. my 7 month old just pulled himself up for the first time this morning and I cried! I get so emotional over how much he is growing and how fast it’s all happening. I’m such a sap for him, especially the bond him and his dada share 🙂

  10. I’m not usually a crier, but you picked two commercials that brought me to tears. The older I get, the more sensitive and emotional I become and it makes me feel good to know that I’m not made of stone.

  11. So good to hear I’m not alone!… I’m actually hesitant to have a baby because I’m exactly the same… I cry during commercials. My husband and I are worried how emotional I’ll be pregnant, not to mention with a child… Time will tell, but glad to know I’m not the only one! 🙂

  12. Whew, thanks! Got my morning cry in, now I can move on with my day. I am just as sappy as you are.
    I just watched a video of my son walking for the first time (two years ago) and balled like a baby. You are definitely not the only sap out there. (:

  13. I suggest you work with a tissue company and put your designs on those boxes. Ha. You will need millions over the years as your little one grows. I thought I was the only one that cried during commercials. The Hallmark ones do me in.

  14. Total crier! And it’s only become worse since getting pregnant. I imagine I’ll be exactly the same as you as soon as the baby comes. My husband says it’s that I care so much that is a big part of why he loves me. Embrace the tears!

  15. Wow, I had not seen either of those two commercials…now I’m in tears. It truly is the hardest but most rewarding job. And yes, the sensitivity only gets worse…I also cry at makeover shows like nobody’s business…it’s kinda ridiculous. And anything that involves kids growing up, I’m a mess too…my boys are 7 and 12. Thank you for sharing. 🙂

  16. Heh! Omg…absolutely.
    Joy, those commercials totally made me cry and I’m not a crier!! When my eldest was a baby, pregnancy hormones made me bawl at this commercial. It’s a unique one because it aired for such a short time. The background music is Rod Stewart and apparently he has a policy of not licensing his music for commercial use. But he was so taken with this one, he allowed it….but for only for like 4 months.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNGZA5ZHQk4

  17. I have an 8 month old too, and I cry sooo much more than before, even though it was a lot before too… But yes, I am so much more sensitive now. The other day I started crying when I thought about my baby as a 70 year old, and my husband started laughing at me, the big meanie.

  18. I thought it was just the hormones during pregnancy but 8 months later the tears are still here. They are usually happy tears but lately they are kind of sad tears thinking about all of the short-lived milestones we won’t experience again. No more swaddling a newborn! No more tummy time! I cannot believe how fast they grow.

  19. I’ve always been sensitive and tears come easily! More often since i’m a mother. You should have seen me at my son’s end-year school show….I was crying at first seconds and he was not yet on the scene!

  20. I’m a childless education reporter and I cry almost every time I visit a school for a special event! Second-graders singing “Firework” spontaneously? Bawling. Fifth-graders talking about their future careers? Sobbing. First-graders singing the military anthems for their veteran grandpas? Ridiculous. I cannot even imagine what it will be like when I’m a mom!

  21. Have you ever seen the Johnson and Johnson commercial where he woman bathes the baby in the sink? “Having a baby changes everything…”
    I BAWL every time i see it. That baby is so perfect. What a dork I am!

  22. Yeah, totally. Especially when V was really young- I was really easy to trigger- they open up a new wing to your heart that was reserved just for them- with all new expressions of emotion.

  23. I don’t cry easily at the big milestone events, but silly little things make me tear up. This week it was when I passed the toy dept. at Target, and realized my kids are pretty much too old for most of the things in there (except Legos & board games.) And then I thought about Christmas morning and got really depressed. (Mine are 7 1/2 & 10)

  24. Mimi,
    Oh man! Thats the other one that KILLS me. My husband will recite the words to it randomly just to get me all emotional!
    Joy

  25. I always was very sensitive but never was a big cryer because I don’t like to cry in public.
    But my pregnancy opens something and I started to cry again and again… It is slowing down (my son is a year old !) but I still cry for each one of his “first time” and there’s so much!
    I guess it’s called L.O.V.E 🙂

  26. I’m not a mommy yet but when I started reading this post and saw that you linked to 2 videos, all I could think is I wonder if one of them is about the little girl who is a swimmer and goes to the olympics!?! and lo and behold one of them was, this made me so emotional I had to pause the tv, get up and grab my boyfriend to make him watch it I was so touched by it. I’m excited to be a mommy one day because when I think about my parents and how much my sister and I meant to them, it makes me want that connection as well. I think your baby is lucky you feel this way, she’ll remember that connection for the rest of her life because she’ll always feel “it” when she thinks of you 🙂

  27. I am a total sap and cry and just thinking of the milestones ahead (my daughter is 8 mos)….the first Halloween parade, preschool graduation, riding a two wheeler for the first time, the first last day of school party, a father daughter dance…and gosh yes, the Google Chrome commercials kill me…

  28. I taught dance for many years and would always tear up watching the littlest girls (3-4 years old) dance at the recital…and they weren’t even my students! Their innocence and excitement to be on stage, proud to spot mom and dad in the audience, and general cuteness in trying to get through the dance. Basket case every time. Now that I’m a mom myself, it’s so much worse! The Olympics commercial gets me every time too!

  29. I have a 4 week old and the tears haven’t stopped. When she smiles, eats, cries, sleeps. When I read her books, happy or sad, or when I think about the future. The worst is this children’s book “On the Night you were Born” by Nancy Tillman just kills me!! Wonderful book for all moms to read to their babies but get ready for the water works.

  30. Oh yeah, I cry a lot more than I used to – wait until Ruby starts getting even older and talking. We reminisce a LOT and when my husband sings the song he used to sing to my daughter as a newborn always makes me cry. And now it’s making me itch for another baby too 🙂

  31. Enjoy your tears dear Joy. My precious girl is now 11 and there are still many moments that make me cry with pride, joy, and wonder.
    Diana from San Francisco

  32. I was never an emotional girl, and used to tease my mom and grandma for crying at silly times. And they would always say “just you wait…” And ever since we adopted our daughter 18 months ago I’m a blubbering fool. But at the same time I kind of secretly like it.

  33. whitney,
    oh yes that book! my friend showed it to me when i was pregnant – i lost it!!
    congrats on your new little babe!
    joy

  34. I’m not a mom yet, but boy, do I get super sensitive over mother + child moments I see on television. I can only imagine how the tears will amplify when I have children of my own!!

  35. I am the same way! I have to be super careful with movies and songs because they can get me going. I just took my 6 year old to see “Brave” today and I cried through that too! Be warned, it’s about the mother/daughter relationship…I was not prepared! 😉

  36. oh, joy! i knew i liked you, and this just further solidifies my affection. i’m a cryer, too. i cry at commercials (especially holiday ones, like families reunited around the thanksgiving table, or the folgers ad with peter, the long lost brother, returning from africa). i cry at parades (they get me really emotional, especially if there’s a marching band). and i absolutely cry with love for huxley. in fact, glenn and i sat up friday night, after huxley had gone to bed, drinking wine and talking about “baby love” and just how amazing and unique and fulfilling it is. it’s just so good, isn’t it?!

  37. ashley,
    oh peter from the folgers ad! airports, too. reunions with families. ugh. were kindred crying spirits 😉
    and yes, baby love is so, so good 😉
    joy

  38. Ahh, I cried every time this came on watching the Olympic trials this weekend! Especially at the end when the moms are crying. Those tiny moments get me. Embrace it, Joy!
    I am not a mom, but seeing my friends with their children often gets me teary. I would probably cry a lot if that little face was smiling at me. Ruby is adorable!

  39. When someone cries a lot you say “s/he’s built close to the water” My friend and I always joked that we are built right within the water. Beautiful ads!

  40. Definitely! There are songs I can never finish singing to my girls because of the lump that rises up in my throat — “You Are My Sunshine” in particular chokes me up.

  41. Joy….I can’t even tell you perfect of timing it was for me to click on this post today. I am so with you. Ever since I had my little guy (now almost two), I’ve been even MORE of a crier than I was before! Everything is just heightened emotion these days, and yes, even the disagreements with my husband seem to go to a new level. thanks for sharing! We’re sort of all in this together 🙂

  42. Yes, the emotions definitely stay with you as your child grows. Just thinking about our little one entering Kinder in the Fall makes me very emotional. Even the thought of leaving her preschool that has been so good to us and the families that we will no longer see makes me tear up. Crying is not a bad thing. You are just a very empathetic soul and children help you feel more highs and lows than you ever thought possible!

  43. I love you, Joy! You are strong for having a range of emotions and for embracing them. That’s what I’ve been told, anyway 🙂
    Your equally emotional friend, Amy

  44. Joy… wait until you start to discipline her, or give her time-out, or scold, or a smack on the bum…
    wait and be prepared…

  45. Yes! There is something soooo weird about being a mum that makes you cry all the time. I feel so silly about it–but every time she does something new I get a lump in my throat and my eyes start to water! I have to turn my cheek if another adult is nearby because I get so embarrassed! And I know if I have to explain WHY I’m crying, I’ll be overcome with emotion and totally lose it! And, like Rebekah, I can barely finish singing a song to her with out crying!

  46. I’m not a mum yet. I dun even have Mr Maybe-Right on my radar. But I cry in every sappy movie. I cried in Bridesmaids, No Strings Attached and even What Happens In Vegas. I cried when I first read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I think it gets worse during PMS when I see mothers with their newborns cos I have just hit 30. I can’t wait to have my own mini-me, boy or girl. I also crave that Mother & Child bond that my mum and I don’t seem to share.

  47. I’m a Mom of 2 boys. I highly suggest you invest in Kleenex Stock at this time. Life will give you lemons and lemonade, and both will bring emotions front and center. Feelings you never imagined, and now can never imagine a full life without. A good wine helps too.

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