Religion, politics and parenting

We've all heard people say, the two things you should never talk about, are religion and politics. Recently, 8 months ago to be exact, I learned that parenting falls right in line with those two as far as being a sensitive, sometimes controversial, topic.

There is a lot of emotion and pride involved with parenting. Pride, along with all of those emotions, topped with heavy sleep deprivation, you have what I will refer to as, the perfect storm.

A proud, emotional, sleep deprived mom, carrying around what feels like the weight of the world on her shoulders. And lets be honest, her child is her world, so to her, the weight of the world is on her shoulders, and that can get is incredibly heavy. Is it worth every bit of the weight? Absolutely. Does it make for a very sensitive women? Yes! So at times it means you have to put the kiddy gloves on...
Just ask my brother in law. One little suggestion on his part, and I all but threw my shoe at his face. He was just trying to be helpful, and you know what, his unsolicited advice ended up being the advice that worked.

I realized then and there, when a mom is at her wits end, she is (I am) extremely sensitive. But, for me personally, on most (not all) occasions, I welcome advice, of any kind. Solicited, unsolicited, by all means, lay it on me. I sent my brother in law a text the next day letting him know that I appreciated his advice and that he was right. I'm glad he spoke up.

A women under the pressure of her own expectations of who she should be as a mom, and possibly the expectations of other people in her life as to what she should be as a mom, can be enough to crush her at times. Because of these pressures and the sensitivity it creates, I have found that being in some mom circles can be very difficult.

There is definitely etiquette to be learned. I have learned by watching, and in some cases by personal experience, if the baby is a girl, do not use the words, chunker, bald, husky, or linebacker. If the child is a boy, do not use the word, pretty....so far that seems to be the only one moms don't appreciate when it comes to a boy.

In a way, it makes me sad. I feel at times that, due to the sensitivity that we as moms have, it leaves little to be discussed. Most people (not everyone) try and avoid disagreeable topics... Well, in parenting, there are a plethora (yes, plethora) of things to disagree on! Co-sleeping, not co-sleeping, sleep train, cry it out, don't ever let your baby cry, wake your baby up from naps, never wake a baby up from a nap, start baby on solids at 4 months, wait until 6 months, breast feed until they are two, don't breast feed past six months. "What? You never breast fed your child? Shame on you!" Vaccinate, don't vaccinate, only vaccinate after the age of two. Organic baby food, homemade baby food, whatever the baby will put in his mouth is fine as long as it isn't antifreeze.
Ugh!

If I cant talk about any of those things, what do I talk about? I'm a stay at home mom!
Fine. Laundry. Lets talk about laundry.
What? Organic, non toxic laundry soap? No, I don't use that.
Crap.

My name is Tabitha, and I can be an overly sensitive mom.
But you can call my son pretty, cause dang it, look at that face!!

 

Isn't he gorgeous!?!

;)