Bad Mommy Mondays

At the request of my husband, I have decided to start a list of all of the reasons that I am a Bad Mommy.*  I will only list things if someone has actually been judgmental about it - either to me, or about me, or said in my presence.  I will post a few every Monday, and post the complete running list on a tab at the top.  When appropriate, I will try to link to the appropriate story.

Reasons I Am a Bad Mommy

1. I chose not to nurse my son.  Because I didn't want to.  If that's not enough of an explanation, let's talk.  Because I totally enjoy discussing my breasts with complete strangers.
2. Instead, I fed him formula, which apparently, is like feeding him toxic waste.
3. I did not fight the c-section.  In fact, I kinda welcomed it.  Oh, and I got the epidural as soon as possible.
4. From early on, I have followed my child's lead.  I trust he knows what he needs. (Like, no socks. . .)
5. I allow my child to watch television, even though it is obviously of the devil.  Just another of my selfish choices so that I can eat occasionally.
6. I feed my child juice, even though it is obviously going to make him fat.  It would be better for him to drink nothing at all, because juice is as bad as soda.
7. I don't jump and run every time my child falls over.  Which is often.  Apparently, that makes me lazy.  Even if he's not actually hurt.  The correct (and societally-acceptable) move would be to hover over him, never allowing him the space to learn anything for himself.
8. I don't always order my kid his own meal.  Most times, in fact, he eats off of my plate.  Apparently, I am a terrible mother who wishes to starve her child. (Interesting factoid: this happened when Miles was 7 months old, and barely eating table food at all.)
9. I use a harness and leash on my son when we are out in public.  Apparently, this means I think of him as a pet, rather than as a rambunctious child who would run into a crowd without thinking.
10. As a family, we have incorporated Miles into our lives, we have not changed everything about our lives to fit him.  Apparently, we are being selfish by 'dragging' him along.  His obvious joy at leading this life is apparently only because he doesn't know any better.

*Please know that I do not think I am a Bad Mommy.  I think I am a Mommy who does her best, just like every other Mommy on the planet.  This list is meant to be funny.  So laugh.  Now. :)

Cuteness Update

Newest cute things that Miles is doing:

• Praying.  Before lunch on Thursday, he folded his hands and bowed his head, and said a little gibberish prayer.  Talk about a proud mommy moment.
• Blowing on things.  He purses his lips and blows air out his bottom lip.  Most of the air goes up his nose and ruffles his hair, but he is so proud of himself. :)
• Saying, "bananananana" for the first time.  Once he gets going, he forgets to stop, though.  :)
• Giving hugs to the other young children at open gym.
• Wrestling with the dog.  They both lay down on the couch and roll around, Dominic licking Miles' face and arms, Miles giggling uncontrollably.
• Using phrases, particularly, "I want this." (Usually in regards to something he can't have, but hey, it's cute.)
• Showing his "cheese face" when asking please.  You can tell that he totally knows he's adorable, and he's milking it for all it's worth.
• Doubling over in pretend laughter whenever someone else laughs.  He even does this if a TV show has a laugh track.  It's so obviously fake that everyone around him laughs, too.
• Starting every string of gibberish with, "Ummmm . . ." and a sigh.  Like he's bringing up a difficult subject.
• Miles has a plastic dinosaur named Charlie.  Charlie has started nomming on people's legs when Miles needs attention.
• Using his toy keys to try to lock the front door.
• Sitting in his little chair that he inherited from Daddy's childhood.
• Using every appropriately-sized card like a debit card.
• Paying the cashier at every store.
• Trying to put on shoes.  His are too difficult to put on by himself, but Aunt B's are really easy.  Walking in them is not so easy, though . . .

Battles & Blessings

How can it be Saturday already?  This week has flown.  (Not that I'm complaining.  Just surprised.)

Battles:

• My teeth.  I started off the week with a sore mouth.  In the end, I had two cavities filled and a wisdom tooth removed.  Yay me.
• Icky sickies.  I don't know if I'm still trying to catch a cold, or if my head-congestion-y stuff is just a result of the trauma my mouth has undergone this week.
• Miles' teeth.  As in, he's getting more.  Again.  Can we just be done with teeth for a little while?  Please?
• Exhaustion.  When I'm in pain, I just want to sleep.  When Miles is in pain, he apparently wants to climb the walls.
• Stupid judgmental people on online forum boards.  I blow raspberries at the lot of them.

Blessings:

• Patrick.  He really should just stay at the top of my list of blessings.  This week, he has really taken up the (vast amounts) of slack due to my exhaustion and pain-induced laziness.  How he continues to do all that he does, I will never understand.
• Dominic.  When Mommy just doesn't have the energy to race around the living room with Miles, Dominic takes over.  They started playing a chase game this week that makes them both happy, and is hysterical to watch.
• New recipe ideas.  Because not only do I get an opportunity to cook (something I truly enjoy), but I get to introduce Miles to new and exciting foods (that he likes!).
• My sister-in-law, who will be visiting and baby-sitting, so that Patrick and I can have a date night tonight.  I love it when people insist on baby-sitting.  It means I don't feel bad about asking. :)
• But more than anything, my son.  Though he has been teething, and therefore in pain, for much of the week, he also seems to know that I don't feel well.  When I am really down, he always does something to make me smile.  Everything about him brings joy to my heart.

Friday Photos!

We finally managed to get back to Picture People for our second set of photos.  Here are a few of the results.   Enjoy!

 

Have an amazing weekend!

Who Knew Juice Would Be Such a Big Deal?

So, apparently, it had been too long since someone flat out told me I was a bad mother.

First, let me just state for the record that I should know better by now than to be entirely honest on the Mommy Forums (not my SAHM board, but others).  Someone asked the question, "What does your kid drink?"

I responded that he drinks a ton of juice, because he won't touch water.

Apparently, that was the wrong answer.  I was e-reamed by a bunch of women I've never even met, and who obviously don't know anything about me.  "Juice is as bad as soda!" one mommy wrote.  "Is this for real?" wrote another.  One flat out told me that I was ruining my child by giving him so much juice - and the AAP would back her up.

Okay, let's step back a moment.  I've done my research.  I know that the AAP is now recommending lower consumption of juice in children.  But I also know that they're doing that for two reasons: 1) the high sugar content of most juices, and 2) childhood obesity.  The sugar, frankly, doesn't bother me.  Sugar, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.  I brush his teeth.  And if I have a bouncy toddler all afternoon, that's my business.  As for the childhood obesity, all I can say is: have you seen my kid?  The poor kid is always struggling to keep his pants up.  He could stand to gain a little weight.  Childhood obesity is on the bottom of my list of worries.

And besides, other than the juice (heck, including the juice), this kid eats healthier than I ever did.  He eats a balanced diet of carbs and proteins, fruits and vegetables.  So if he wants a little juice to drink with it, so be it.  And no one but no one is going to tell me I am a Bad Mommy for this one.

Although, I may or may not have told the ladies on that forum board to 'shove it'.  So, if that type of language makes me a Bad Mommy, I'll take it. :)

Don't Ask If You Don't Want the Answer

Miles and I have been working on animal sounds lately.  He knows that a dog says, "woof" and a cat says, "meow" and a duck says, "quack" (though getting him to show that he knows that is sometimes a challenge).

Yesterday, it went something like this:

Me:  "What does a dog say?"
Miles: <makes clicking noise with tongue, and pats legs - like he's calling the dog>
Me: "Close enough.  What does a kitty say?"
Miles: "Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
Me:  "Okaaay, what does a duck say?"
Miles: <makes the sign for 'duck'>
Me: What does Daddy say?
Miles: <sticks his tongue out> "Baaaaah"
Me: <giggling, now> Really?  What does Mommy say?
Miles: <several minutes of gibberish, complete with hand gestures>
Me: Mommy says all that?
Miles: Ess.

I guess I shouldn't have asked . . . :)

Dip!

No, I'm not calling you names, I promise. :)

Two months ago, Miles would eat anything we put in front of him.  Especially if Mommy or Daddy had a bite first.  Now?  Not so much.  He eats bananas like they're going out of style, and he'll still eat just about any variety of bread, but getting him to eat much of anything else has been a struggle.

Until we discovered the power of dip.

This kid will eat anything that he can dip in anything.  Chips and salsa?  Devoured.  Pretzels and marinara sauce?  Inhaled.  Crackers and warm peanut butter?  Demolished.  He especially like the last one.  So much, in fact, that I had to give him more crackers three different times.  He ate way more than I expected.  It was a little messy, but this kid?  He can even make messy look cute.  See?

Oh, and look, he wants to give you a hug.  Don't you just want a big peanut-buttery hug? :)