I have had enough already. Today, while running on the treadmill and watching hockey, I caught a commercial for "Anderson." This commercial was highlighting another media fixture doing an entire show devoted to "attachment parenting." And I am officially OVER.IT. Seriously people?! Parenting isn't hard enough on its own and now you want to KEEP GOING with your shoving ideas down everyone else's throats? This is getting a little out of hand and I really felt that it was necessary to take to my own emotional release and express how much I wish that these moms would just SHUT. YOUR. MOUTHS. NOW. IMMEDIATELY. Not later, not tomorrow, not next week...NOW.
I just read (literally 2 minutes ago) that Alanis Morissette says that she will breastfeed her child until he wants to stop. FINE. I can respect that if that is your decision. But this is where she begins to get offensive... She continues by saying that her child is going to need less therapy because of this. REALLY?!?! really? What about the kid on the cover of Time? How much therapy do you think that he is going to need when he is an adult (or a teenager--bless his heart) and people find out that he is "this" kid? And who the heck are you to insinuate that my child is going to need therapy because she didnt breastfeed until she was leaving for college. I also fully admit that part of my sensitivity to the breastfeeding part of this debate is because I had trouble with my own breastfeeding journey. My maternal instincts ache because I was not able to breastfeed naturally. I judge myself for having to pump exclusively for Sydney. It is like these people do not remember how hard it truly is to breastfeed. Who are they to judge? At the end of the day, Sydney is healthy. Sydney is emotionally developed. We have the same connection now that we would have had if she had been able to latch on properly. She is also just as physically developed as if she had breastfed past 10 weeks. I took my body and my mind to its brink in order to provide for her as long as I could. And then we switched over to formula and guess what? SYDNEY.IS.HEALTHY. And happy. And adorable. Screw you for judging me on my parenting abilities. I am a wonderful mother.
And co-sleeping? Where are all of the doctors and nurses at right now that should be screaming from the rooftops on this one? My theory is that the media is controlling the message on this one and they are not being provided with the forum to speak. Co-sleeping (when improperly done) is DANGEROUS! Go to any pediatrician and ask him how he feels about it? I am sure that he has a million stories of co-sleeping gone wrong. Sydney has never slept with us. Out of fear for her safety, she has always slept on her own. At first it was right beside us in her basinet. Then at about 2 months it was on the other side of our room. Then at about 3 months it was in her crib and she has been there ever since. This has been amazing for everyone involved. Sydney grows to be independent by sleeping in her own bed and having her own space. She is self-comforting in the middle of the night and she goes down amazingly. She has slept through the night since 3 months. We also just recently converted her to a toddler bed. Guess what? She hasn't gotten out of bed in the middle of the night a single time. *probably just jinxed that* But she knows that she sleeps in her own bed. I have even tried to sleep with her at some points and she thinks that means its playtime. I take that as a sign that I have done my job as a parent and created an independent sleeper. If you want to safely co-sleep with your child...Fine. But please, keep your judgmental comments to yourself. There is nothing wrong with way I have raised my child and as long as you being safe, there is nothing wrong with your method either. I know that I am a wonderful mother.
This is pretty much why I don't really like girls. We are so damn hard on each other! It is bad enough that if we are the slightest bit imperfect, we are judged. Overweight? Judged for that big time. Eccentric? Oh, you bet you are judged for that. Rebel? Judged. Religious? Judged. No matter what you do---women cannot just be happy for each other and continue to live their lives. It is so RIDICULOUS!!! So judge me all you want. I know that I am a wonderful mother.
Part of being a wonderful mother is having a warm personality. It is also not being judgmental. I like to believe that all mothers are pretty much on this same journey together. That is a bond that mothers should have with each other. I like to look at it this way...I help you to celebrate your happiness and success, even if I am not physically there. I also send positive messages and prayers your way when you struggle, even if I am not physically there. I love to be that way because I love children. It is physically engrained in my DNA to be a mother and I just want children to be loved and happy and provided for. The method in which that is done is NONE of my business. Why can't other Moms be that way? I just don't understand it...its pure MADNESS!!
So I think you get my message here....let's all take a second and CHILL OUT. Honestly, when I was in high school there were judgmental girls all over the place and I was like "whew! I will be done with this once I leave." Then I went to college and joined a sorority and thought, well here are a group of girls that are my sisters and will stick by me through thick and thin....yup wrong there too by a long shot. So I was happy to leave that behind. And now here I am at 26 and dealing with the entire country judging my parenting choices. Over it. Please join me. I just want us all to be happy for other mothers and supportive of all that they do...regardless of what "that" is.
Happy Weekend! (I have to end on an upswing)
