Everyone Has An Opinion

I noticed this during pregnancy but didn't think much of this.  Absolutely everyone has an opinion on parenting.  It doesn't matter if you're male or female or a person who's had children or someone who is childless.  Everyone seriously has an opinion and thinks they know everything.  I will admit, before becoming a parent, I was one of those people.  However, to those who are parents, shame on you.  (As I hide in a corner as I probably still judge).  So shame on me as well.  As a parent, we should know better to judge another parent for their parenting style.  Unless of course, there is harm to the child/children involved.

During pregnancy and before, there are so many things I said I'd never do.  But you know what?  Take everything you think you know before kids and throw it away.  Once that baby is born, you're in pure survival mode.  It doesn't matter what you thought before.  All you want is just a teensy bit of sleep or maybe a chance to actual put a piece of food in your mouth, you will do whatever it takes to make your little one happy.

And it's amazing the comments I get all the time...I should mention that baby D is just 3 months old.  Comments such as:

              You're spoiling the baby

              You're not skinny anymore

              It's time to give up breastfeeding

             Add cereal to the bottle.  He'll sleep through the night

             Give him water

             He's such a little guy (in regards to Baby D's weight)

I'm sure I can add so much more to this list...but I've probably forgotten a lot of advice/comments I've heard over time.  What worked for one parent may not work for another.  And I've also learned...there are so many different parenting styles.  Not one is better than another.  It's just that one parenting style fits someone better than another.

You know what I've learned?  Every parent is different, every child is different, and you do what you need to do to survive.  Nobody knows everything and things change through the years.  And if it works for us, than great. 

For what it's worth, please don't ever comment on a new mother's weight.  Trust me, the last thing she wants to hear is someone discussing that she's yet to lose all the pregnancy weight.  You know what?  My body is so different that what it was before pregnancy and sure I still have weight to lose.  You can't just lose it all overnight.  It took 9 months (or in my case, 10 months) to put on that weight, why would it just be gone in a month?

I'm hopping off my soapbox now.  Enough with my rant.