Can I just say that raising children is tough? But raising kids amongst other mommies has to be the toughest. Along the way, there are so many theories about what to feed them, how to punish them, how to talk to them, what activities they should do, what activities they shouldn’t do. And then all of those theories filter down into subtheories with each mother having an opinion or a clause that they cannot wait to share with you.
If you feed your child kale boiled on a moonless night with two drops of ginger mixed into it, their immunity will be built up, but only against infectious shark bites.
If your child makes the track team, make sure they don’t get Mrs. Paperstitch as their coach. She likes to make the children put on ballet slippers and sauté down the field while she dresses up as a mouse and screams for cheese.
If you always talk to your child in a whisper and never let them hold a match but always let them hold the dragon-shaped firework obtained from the tallest fairy in the mushroom patch, they will grow up to be doctors.
So many darn theories.
And it does not matter.
It always happens.
At every single open house.
School event.
Mommy meeting.
Words of wisdom and advice will be given.
And sometimes I can hear them coming from my own contaminated lips. The words rolling from my open mouth before my brain can shut the fleshy doors to the sounds. My advice probably not needed. My council preferably not recommended. My need to share more for my own validation than for another’s benefit.
And yet, we all do it.
We mommy other mommies.
It is as though becoming a parent to one or a few has made us capable of judging all of the other parents out there simply by how we are deciding to do things. Oh, I do it, too. In fact, I do it all of the time. In my mind, I am probably even slow motioning a theatrical, “Ohhhhh,” as my inner eyes roll and my gavel bangs down. Of course, some mothers make it all too easy to prosecute them. I am not speaking of those select few. I am speaking of the average mom. The mommy with chocolate on her pants and shredded cheese on the floor of her car. The one who got tired and bribed her child in front of you or gave the kid a form of food you would not feed your own.
Can we agree to stop this nonsense? To form together and not care what Joan is feeding Timmy or what teacher little Suzy got. Guess what? It will all work out. It really, really will. Suzy will be just fine with Mrs. Prudence. Timmy will grow up to become a vegetarian. And no one will remember what your child did. They will remember only how you made them feel about their own child.
I call a truce.
No more mommying oth…
Wait!
Did you hear?
No, it really is true!
Proven.
Tested.
All you have to do to make your child behave is to dress them entirely in blue from the age of four to the age of ten and feed them milk from a tig…
*If you are wondering if someone set me off to write this post. Well, they did… It was me. Ugh, sometimes that woman deserves more than an eye roll.
Also, please do not attempt any theories read on this post at home. I heard the mommy who invented them is crazy. At least that is what one voice in my head keeps telling me.
What a great post Jenni! I couldn’t agree more!
I wondered if you got that bedding set from Anthro….. as soon as I saw it I thought of you! I have a post planned on Otomi that I hope to do soon.
You won my giveaway! I put the necklace in the mail to you yesterday!
Move is going well – just busy. I can’t wait to get back into blogging and posting outfits.
Wow! Thank you so much for the necklace! I love it! I cannot wait to style it. : ). You are so sweet to send that in the middle of your move.
I cannot wait for you to get back into blogging, too. I miss your posts!
I just picked up the bedding. I had wanted it forever. It was in my wishlist. It finally went on sale. I love it so much. Our old bedding was trashed. I cannot even donate it, because it has so many holes. I will just have to throw it away. It was too fragile. This bedding feels much more sturdy. Fingers crossed. : )
Thank you again!
Have an awesome wedding!
Jenni
Yep, yep, yep…to the first part of the post…not the part about someone, perhaps the writer, being a crazy mommy. I think it is so much more true now days than when we were raising our kids. Good thing for me as I would have crumpled under all the choices and curled up into a little ball worrying about the judgement of others. That being said, when our son and daughter in law were about to become parents, the only parenting advice we gave them was don’t read any parenting books. Lol.
Thanks Brynne. I had to put that part in. You never know what people will take seriously. Although if they could actually find that firework, that would be amazing. I also agree about parenting books. Oh my goodness. That is fantastic advice you gave your children. Nobody is going to parent perfectly. We can only do our best and try not to judge. It is hard all the way around.
Off to read to my son… It makes me feel like a better parent after feeding him fast food for dinner. ; )
Have a super weekend!
Jenni
I wonder if this is something universal across cultures? Or if it’s something that’s exacerbated by the internet?
Great question. I imagine mommies everywhere give advice to other mommies. It just comes naturally. But that is definitely something to ponder over. I also think you are onto something with the internet theory. So much information at our fingertips can give a person a feeling of knowing more information than they would have before.
Now I hope to be off to dreamland. I had a dream about a miniature giraffe the other night and I think it was because of your safari post. It was awesome. : )
Sweet dreams!
Jenni
How miniature was the giraffe? I hope maybe you’ll post about it in one of your dream posts!
Oh my gosh, Liana! It was the size of my hand. It had a bobble like larger head with big sweet eyes. I was so bummed to wake up! I have definitely thought of adding it to my dream post! It is complicated, because it was kind of sad, too. It was someone’s giraffe and I took it home with me. Giraffes are my favorite. They look like a made up creature.
Thanks for the good dream! : )
I hope you have good dreams tonight, too!
Jenni
Honestly, I don’t know how you moms do it today. It seems like parenting has become so complicated. I remember when I was a kid all the moms were on the same page. Now I get stressed out when my friends talk about their kids. Empathy stress. I don’t know how you all do it! xo
Thank you Cynthia. I don’t know how we do it either. ; ). Seriously, it was one of those days. And my kids do not do team sports! The schedules my friends have with their kids would give me a breakdown. I do not know how they do it. I need a lot of calm down time.
Thank you for the encouragement! : )
Have sweet dreams!
Jenni
Parenting IS hard. Lots of grace and love is all you/me/we/everyone needs!
Agreed! : ). I had the love down today. ; )
Have a marvelous Monday!
Jenni
Great post! I know for certain that we all have those moments. On both sides. The ones where we are the unfortunate mommy doing something that someone else doesn’t approve of, AND the one who gives the advice to the poor, other mommy! I’m not sure any of of will be able to stop either moments, it’s just an inevitable trait of mommy hood! Oh, though we can try……
:)Rebecca
Thanks Rebecca! I almost called a mom yesterday to give advice, but stopped myself after remembering this post. I hope I can stop myself from saying something the next time I see that mommy! : )
Have a super week!
Jenni