As summer slips into crisp and busy autumn, we have always been taught to switch gears. When we were in school, this time of year meant new outfits and funky pencil cases. Time to learn. Time to re-aquaint with the friends who were at the cottage all summer. And then you got older. Don’t you remember pouring over the thickest Vogue of the year to master that year’s trends? Tweed? Chocolate brown? And then we began working, and September meant that we were back in the game. No more summer laziness and inefficiency. (Not you, of course, but everyone else was on vacation and it prevented you from getting through your to do list.)

We often forget about those lucky people who can be frozen in time. For those awaiting the birth of a child, and those with a newborn, time seems to stop. Day and night hours make no difference – only for the midnight silence, bad TV and having to turn on a few extra lights. A baby may need an extra layer of clothing, but the onesies and footed sleepers don’t change with the seasons as much as our shoes and accessories used to.

Many mothers of newborns become frustrated by this stage – fatigue, insecurity and isolation can turn an enchanted time into a very upsetting one. Our society is very structured, and open schedules are rarely embraced, so new mothers often harbour guilt and feel unsure about a state of being they have never experienced before.

We encourage you to feel like you are the centre of the universe, instead of being driven by the external marketing forces that our society promotes. You are one of the lucky few who gets to see the full moon every couple of hours as it moves across the sky. You can have tea and toast at 4am. Or maybe chocolate chips. And you have a tiny, beautiful baby in your cocoon of your own world so that this year, seasons don’t really matter. You are outside of the marketing machine, outside of the clocks, and at one with all of the mothers and grandmothers before you who have also seen the moon rising, night after night. Embrace it. (But you might still want to flip through that copy of Vogue at 2am to see what’s in store when you start to wear real clothes again.)

Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the CEO of UrbanMommies.com, a hip Canadian online resource for new and expecting parents. She fully embraces natural and eco-friendly ideas, but the Manolos are never too far away.