Sunday, August 28, 2011

Expectations

I absolutely love to talk to someone who is
expecting a child or to someone who has yet to have children.
Why? You ask. Because they say things
that make me giggle.
Because I said the exact same things......
before I had kids.


"My child will never sleep in the bed with us" or "My child will only eat healthy foods, no junk for our precious pumpkin" or "If that were my child screaming in Walmart I'd let them have it and we'd leave" or "My child will never eat rabbit poop".

 I said all of these things at one point in my life. I thought because I had been a nanny several years and because I had worked in a couple of daycares that I'd have this parenting thing down to the "T". It was going to be super easy for me and my children were going to be the most well behaved, calm children with the best manners. Piece of cake. Right? Right??

Enter Child #1. Description: Very cute, red headed baby with colic and a cry so loud it made dogs howl. (Don't let his tininess fool you, he was loud).



 Two weeks into this mommy thing and my life began to unravel. Apparently it's not as easy when the child is yours and you can't hand it over and go home at the end of the day. Many times I called my mother crying because I didn't know what to do and I was obviously failing my baby. I mean if his own mother can't make him stop crying she must be inadequate?! So to make everyone happy and to make the dogs quiet down, he began sleeping in the bed with us, propped up on a boppy with me checking to make sure he was breathing every 5 minutes. Yep, it was a shameful moment of defeat for me. I had done the one thing I was strongly adamant that he wouldn't do. But we all got more sleep and that made everyone happy.

Baby #1 grows up a bit. Description: Very cute, red headed little boy with a sassy attitude and picky taste.


  So the little baby has grown into a little boy. Remember how I said he'd eat healthy foods? Veggie and fruits galore! Yeah..... so cheese is kind of healthy isn't it? He eats grilled cheese, cheese roll up, cheese on bread, and pizza with cheese...... Sigh. So go ahead and check that one off of my list.

Enter in Baby #2. Description: very bright blue eyes, beautiful, hot tempered little fella.



 Baby #2 is my boundary pusher. He likes to push as many buttons as possible. I have now been that mother with the screaming child in walmart, exhausting every effort to make the little guy happy just so I can finish grocery shopping. Meeting the glares from fellow shoppers while smiling nervously and trying not to cry. CHECK and check.



Baby #2 a little bit older
 Yeah so the whole not going to eat rabbit poop thing.... maybe I didn't quite say it in those words, but I failed that one too. I won't go into detail as I'm sure you can all imagine the horror and sickness I felt when I discovered that those weren't little chocolate morsels of yumminess... Okay enough of that. Check.


So I sit here and I giggle and I think oh you just wait with a little bit of satisfaction in knowing that I'm not going to be alone in this crazy world of parenting. I love to hear other parents talk about there, "I will never" moments and how they were ridiculously wrong as well. I'm learning to take most of my parenting expectations and throw them into the wind and just take it day by day. We're finding out what works best for us. I guess some would say I have a laidback style of parenting. I let my children jump on the furniture, feed them cookies for breakfast, and let them turn the whole bathroom into a splash zone. But it's what works for us. Is it how I thought things would be? Heck no. But are we having fun? Very much so.


10 comments:

  1. "We're finding out what works best for us."
    Loved the whole blog, but this stood out. Everyone has to find what works for them, and until you are in the thick of your own meltdown you really have no idea! I'm kind of a helicopter parent, very type A personality, but I learned a long time ago that nothing is perfect, and the small things won't damage our children forever. They are LOVED and that's what matters. :)

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  2. I had so many ideas of how I was going to raise my kids and I'm really surprised at how different I am now that I have them. There are times I wish we were on more of a schedule, but then I take a step back and say, "No, this is what works with these kids." I'm very big on not judging others decisions with their kids (unless it's harmful to them of course). I don't like to push my "ways" because I know they won't work for most people and I'm sure some people might raise their eyebrows at the job I'm doing, but I can tell you one thing for sure, they will know we love them and they will know God loves them. Sorry I should have just written another blog post ;)

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  3. Haha this is so true! It is so important not to judge other moms because most moms really are doing the best they can, and you just have to let some things go! (The less important things of course :)

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  4. I love this post! It's so true!

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  5. I love hearing how people raise their kids. Everyone is so different. I sure have my "I'll never do that" moments, but I guess I'll never really know until they get here!

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  6. They sure are! Most of our friends have boys and it is so neat to see how different each of them are and how differently we're raising them. :)

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  7. Since parents are all unique individuals and then so are their children, folks usually tweek to fit each child. Love is the most important process of all and so great to hear you administer this firmly and often. Great blog!

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