There’s help and then there’s unsolicited advice, and that’s putting it nicely. Being a older mother and the youngest daughter, I get a lot of guidance from everyone – colleagues, sister, mother and friends. My favorite line of all is when you finally make a decision about something, let it be known, and someone (Ok – my sister) usually says “you know what you should do…” What I should do? It’s already been done or in the process of being done. I’d love to put my finger over their (her) condescending mouths and simple say “Shhh!”
Making decisions for your child is difficult. I find that heat regulations are my biggest challenge. “Are you too hot? Too cold? Do you need a hat? Is the temperature in your room to warm?” I never know what I should do when it comes to their body heat. Especially when everyone walks into my house and makes a comment. “Wow, it’s boiling in here. The kids are sweating!” “OMG! It’s cold. Feel them! These kids are freezing.” It’s as if my day revolves around the numbers of my thermostat.
I also find food to be a constant quandary. Chicken fingers? Mac and Cheese? Pasta? My son’s palate is less than refined. But let’s face it, I’m a working mom and order out every night (tonight was Chinese). It has gotten to the point that when we pull into a restaurant parking lot, my son screams “OH!” in excitement and I sink down in my car seat in shame. I have to wonder what the waitresses thinks when we traipse in every week. I’m sure they’d love to dole out some advice, too. I’m just waiting for the waitress to say “you’re ordering that again? you really should try this, it’s so much better for your son.” She’d be echoing my sitter’s sentiments, who always tells me what they should and shouldn’t eat.
My new dilemma is pre-school. Who knew that in January, you’d need to sign your kid up for pre-school for September? I mean, really? We are not talking college or an elite boarding school. We are talking a 2 day a week, 2 hour a day class. I kinda wish when these moms were giving me advice about what foods I should feed my infant or what programs I should show my toddler, they would have clued me in on the nursery school stampede that I would be racing against. I’ve already heard from everyone and their mother their opinions. My 2 year old (who turns 3 next year) “doesn’t need school yet.” That I “need to do the morning program because the afternoon isn’t great for his schedule”. That I need to have my son “go to school with the kids that he will eventually go to elementary school with!”
So, off to look at nursery schools today. I’m taking everyones (unwanted) advice into account but my biggest worry is finding a school that expects the least out of me, the parent. What can I say? Anyway, I should probably go now. My friend just had a baby and I need to tell her to sterilize the binkie before she…. oops!
