Twenty-two isn’t that young.

More and more women are having babies earlier in life. In fact, by MTV’s standards, I’m way too old to be a mother.

However, all things considered, being in our 20s makes us young. Not too young to be a mom, but young all the same.

In many ways, being young has its advantages when raising a child.

When we’re out at a restaurant and our kid throws toys and food to the ground around the high chair, it’s no problem for us to bend over and pick them up over and over again. When they decide to stay up all night for no reason at all, college has trained us well for that adventure. And maybe, just maybe, Miley Cyrus will still be relevant when they’re a teenager (in that flabby-Madonna-arms kind of way) and we’ll be there with a flawless rendition of “The Climb.”

Yet, there are some circumstances where being both a mother and in our 20s at the same time becomes an obstacle.

Emotions are running high. Always.

Our hormones don’t really ever “balance out,” but as women in our 20s, we just hit puberty yesterday, didn’t we? Personally, when my baby girl falls and hits her head, followed by crying and gasping for air, I’m right there with her. I, too, am literally crying and gasping for air. Our emotions are extra sensitive, which can sometimes complicate an ordinary and common event.

Wanna talk about poop?

It’s not easy keeping old friends, much less making new ones our age.

When they want to talk about finals, beer or fashion, we want to talk about pacifier weaning, formula and onesies.

And of course, poop.

The other day I was at AT&T and the gentleman helping me was only a few years my senior. At one point during his sales pitch on the newest tablet, I looked at my baby in my arms and said excitedly, “Did you poopy? I think you did. You poopied!”

When I looked up, the nice salesman wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Finally, he just shrugged and said, “Yay.”

We can be shy.

High school isn’t some far away memory where we start sentences with “back in my day…”

Those four years weren’t all that long ago and they also weren’t that fun for many of us. I’ve always been a shy girl, but mean girls and bad grades didn’t help me build confidence. Therefore, when a physical therapist keeps my screaming baby on her tummy, I might have said, “Nope” and picked her up a half-second earlier than a more self-assured Mom would.

Technology is not on our side.

Our generation is so used to smart phones and laptops that can fit in our pockets and tablets that can be our cameras we well as our calendars. Everything has a game on it, or a message from a friend, or the highlights from our favorite TV shows. It’s really easy for us to get distracted.

Mothers in their 20s may need some more reminders to keep our eyes up, because even when it seems like those little ones aren’t doing much of anything; we may be missing everything.

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Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Author’s own, Keep-Calm