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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Thoughts

So as the cloudy skys turn a little brighter here in Oregon, Lucy and I have been spending more time outside. Now we live in an apartment complex that has a play area for kids. I have come to realize even more than I did before that I am no longer in the happy valley of Utah. The other day I had to ask some guys (looked like they ranged from age 9 to 12ish) to watch their language. Lucy is like a sponge and the last thing I want is her to cuss at random people. Then yesterday as we played at our apartment play structure I noticed I was not just the only married mom, but I was the only mom that was a non-smoker too. We stayed for over two hours so I watched many come and go, but it seemed they all took turns going and standing off in a distance smoking. They would say things to their kids like "not now, mommy is smoking." I had to laugh to myself when Lucy walked a little too close to one of the moms who was smoking and Lucy started to cough. She couldn't stop and I should have been getting so upset with the girl for letting Lu breath her second hand smoke, but instead I thought to myself 'good job Lucy. Way to make her feel bad for her bad habbits!' That is mean of me...I am just so happy I am not addicted to anything that could hurt my child in any way.
Another thing happened at the play ground the other day. One of the moms of a two-year-old boy (young, single, got fired for a DUI and lives with her mom) made me realize one of my new biggest pet peeves. Her son is two right...she talks to him like he is two weeks old. I am not kidding. I could understand his words more than I could hers. I don't mind baby talk to babies, they say the higher pitches are actually good to use on infants. I totally did this with Lucy all the time. But when a child is learning to talk, teach him the correct way to say things and stop treating them like babies. I don't know how I can understand her little boy as well as I can to be honest!
I am not trying to make this a negative post, but I just have some things that have bugged me this week. Such as how some people should just keep their mouths shut. That would include me too! I shouldn't judge these mom's for getting pregnant and having a baby on their own as teenagers, I don't know their situation at all! I also shouldn't judge them for smoking or using annoying baby voices to their kids who can talk in full sentences. Well today I babysat a couple of kids. When the mother came back to pick them up she made a comment about how I still gave Lucy a bottle. It wasn't mean, but it was very unnecessary. She acted as if she were so shocked, like nobody should ever give their 19-month-old a bottle. Then she found out I still warmed them up for her...her eyes got big and she laughed and said "that is so funny that you do that." BIG DEAL!!!! I feel there are a lot worse things in life than giving my kid a bottle. Yes, I should probably start 'thinking' about weaning her off, but seriously, it's not a big deal. Not only is it not a big deal, but it is absolutely none of her business. We all have different parenting styles. We all make decisions on when to do what (stop breast feeding, stop the bottle, pacifier, potty training, etc,.). Every child is so different and it isn't our place to judge.
I am done. Those were the things I needed to get off my chest. Now I just need to wait for my hubby to get home so I can go to sleep :)
Too bad the Blazers are down by so much!

1 comments:

lisset said...

oh you made me laugh. people really do stick their foots in the mouths all the time when it comes to parenting. sometimes it's just so hard to keep your opinion to yourself, but everyone should at least try! :)