To my three little ones,
I’m sorry I let you sit in prams that were outward facing. I interpreted your quietness as contentment as you absorbed the wonders of the world. Really you were screaming inside “I can’t stand this please turn me around!”
I’m sorry I carried you on my tummy facing outwards. You played with my hair and smiled at strangers. Really you were crying out ”please stop tormenting me, just turn me around!”
I’m told I should be sorry for feeding two of you solids at 4 months. If you get allergies because you ate too early, I’m sorry. Child no.3, you started solids at 6 months. If you get allergies because you started too late, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I encouraged you to colour within the lines. A colouring-in book stunts creativity. You may be musical and artistic but if I just didn’t let you colour in you could be so much more.
Is this list getting too long for your short attention spans? That’s my fault too. I’m sorry I let you watch television.
I’m sorry for day care. But that’s because I work. I’m sorry about that.
I’m sorry you slept when you should have been awake.
I woke you up when you should have stayed asleep.
I gave you a dummy.
It dropped on the floor and I boiled it. Way too protective.
Next time I didn’t boil it. Not protective enough.
I let you climb into our bed in the middle of the night when you should have slept through.
I allowed you to be friendly with all the kids when I’m meant to teach you that not everyone wants to be your friend.
I’m sorry about all these things.
I’m also sorry for all the parenting mishaps I’m yet to be told I’m meant to be sorry about. I’m sure I will read about them in next week’s news. It’s just there’s some people who say things to get publicity. These people like to make mums feel guilty so we will buy their books. I’m sorry if I was meant to listen to them.
P-U-B-L-I-C-I-T-Y. It’s a big word. I’m sorry if I haven’t taught you enough to excel academically at school.
Baby 3 you have just woken up from your sleep crying for your mum. I will be there in about five seconds. I’m not going to let you cry. I’m going to pick you up. Sorry!
Absolutely love this post!! Well done. Too much guilt layed on, not enough publicity for the studies that basically state that love and understanding your child is the most important thing.
great post!!!!
Great post….I’m wondering how many grant $$$s that stupid woman got to research about outward v’s inward facing prams…..Go and look at your child listen to them, love them and take no notice of these bloody stupid people peddling their guilt onto mothers.
That was spot on. You summed up this hysteria beautifully. Imagine laying all this crazy criteria on our parents, so they could re-access how they reared us. EPIC FAIL, but we seem to be alright
There is a fundamental difference between how men and women deal with children as illustrated in this article.
Men want to show their kids the world and help them grow up. Women want to protect their kids from the world and nurture them.
Watch men and women with kids any age and you’ll see the difference. The woman will be upset her baby is going to school whilst the man will be proud their child is growing up.
If you listen to your child and follow your intuition you’ll do the right thing for them anyway!
Perfectly explained. That is too true!
BINGO! love it
) this should be PUBLISHED!
Love it!
Absolutely spot on……i dont think it could be put any better than this.
The idiot who ‘researched’ Rear V Forward facing prams is probably the sort to blame ALL her faults on her parents, she probably doesnt even have kids anyway!
Loved this blog, really put a smile on my face.
I totally agree…. we are bad mothers no matter what we do these days!
Go to work and you are neglecting your children, stay at home you are not providing financially! Can’t win!!!
Too much circulation of theories and opinions (some of which seem to be pulled from thin air!)
I feel sorry for your poor children, no doubt they are as unhappy as mine! LOL
Well, I have 5 kids ranging in ages, 22, 18, 9, 4 & 2. I have seen and heard alot of things over the last 20+ years and it just seems to be getting sillier every year! Some CRACKPOT somewhere, coming up with SOMETHING to justify their own existance, and as someone else has said, they more than likely do not even have kids of their own! I had my kids mostly facing me when they were little in the prams, so I could watch to see if they THREW UP! (reflux babies) not to do with not stimulating them! But as soon as they could sit up abit, I turned them all around so they could see the world and interact & LEARN (sitting up helps with them NOT throwing up, so was “happier” to turn them).
I just shake my head with most of the CRAP I hear these days! and I feel sorry for the younger, less experienced, vulnerable mothers that take all this CRAP as gospel…. I feel for their kids. The mother just needs to follow her own instincts, really.
I am 42, have been around while, and when I hear such crap, it just makes me so cranky.
I wiped my kids dummys ( “heaven forbid they had one in the first place”-SARCASM!) and gave it back to them, they spend more than half their lives on the floor anyway! and put all sorts of god knows what in their mouths! some people are WAY TOO precious about dummys. When the babies are tiny, they can’t chuck them , or lose them, so they don’t get “dirty” anyway.
Mummys everywhere, please do what you FEEL is best for your own children, don’t let useless “professionals” dictate to you what you should do, or think….
this is great, well done, very well said, i even read it out to hubby, while my kids sat in front of tv eating raisins