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If you’re a mom and haven’t heard of NickMom.com yet, you’re seriously missing out. It’s the first URL I type in my browser when I’m having a bad day and I always know I’m going to get a laugh and sometimes it’s just that one laugh or chuckle that can turn my whole day around. I love the casual take on parenting and the humor they bring to motherhood. Some people just take this parenting thing too seriously. I get it, you’re responsible for your child and the person they will become, but everything in between? Is it really worth all the stress?
The first thing I did when I found out I was pregnant was go and purchase as many of those pregnancy books as I could. I read everything and I wanted to know everything about what was going on with my body and everything that was going on with my growing baby. I had nine months to prepare to take care of another human being for crying out loud, I was going to make sure I did it right! I learned all about car seat safety, decided that I was going to breastfeed, and that we would never co-sleep because I wasn’t about to be “that mom” who crushed her child. I even went as far as to decide to try a “natural birth” after Cory and I took birthing classes together.
All that preparation went right out the window when I started having contractions around 1am on April 3rd, 2010. I’ve never shared my birth story with you all, but let’s just say I was “that mom” who totally walked into the hospital, screamed at Cory through every contraction and practically begged for an epidural within 5 minutes of entering the delivery room. I’m sure you can only imagine the look I gave Cory when he said, “Oh honey, don’t you want to try the ‘walking epidural’ first?” YEAH RIGHT!
After Alea arrived, I hit survival mode. I got maybe an hour or two of sleep before my contractions started that morning. Going though the exhaustion of labor, even with an epidural, led me to a point of exhaustion I had never experienced before. Come bedtime, we put Alea in her bassinet and we all fell asleep just fine. Two hours later, Alea awoke crying and begging to be nursed and then decided that she was going to continue to cry each time we put her down in her bassinet. I was tired, Cory was tired and so began our very first experience with co-sleeping.
And don’t even get me started on food. Alea’s battled food almost as much as she used to battle sleep. She eats this, but refuses to eat that, and sometimes I wish that all five food groups came in “fruit snack” form. I’ve tried everything when it comes to Alea’s picky eating habits and I honestly just give up at this point. I swore I’d never be “that mom” that feeds her child chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but at this point? If she eats it without throwing a fit and causing a rukus, I’m happy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be the “kale chips,” “actual fruit,” or “broccoli quinoa bites” mom, but I’m completely fine being the “fruit snacks” mom. Now before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at me and telling me I’m a horrible mother, let me just tell you that when I say that I’m a “fruit snacks” mom, it doesn’t mean that Alea eats fruit snacks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Well, it looks like you learn something new everyday, right? I’m an epidural getting, co-sleeping, breastfeeding, please-just-eat-something-that-I-put-in-front-of-you kind of mom. You gotta problem with that?
Let me just say though, if you have to be “that mom” who follows everything the parenting books tell you, please just do me a favor and don’t be “that mom” who blasts that ish all over Facebook. Don’t comment on your friend’s photo telling them their child is buckled in their car seat incorrectly or fuss over the inorganic food your friend on Instagram is feeding their child. Nobody, trust me, nobody likes “that mom.”
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i love this post, i am not a mom yet, (and won’t be for a little while) but i will be one day! i have a lot of nieces and nephews so we are around babies and toddlers a lot, so i can kind of see that i would be the same way as you. wanting to do everything the natural, right, by the books way, but at the end of the day, as long as the kids are eating and getting some nutrients and are sleeping, and getting lots and lots of love, that’s what matters. you are doing it right! 🙂
LOL!!! Right now I’m a “fruit mom” but that may also be because my toddler really LOVES fruit! Otherwise I’d probably be a yogurt/cookie mom. Love the little explanations next to each one, too. The bento box one is so true, whenever I see people post those on their blogs I think that!
I remember having a specific mindset when it came to things, like my hospital stay. I had a whole page typed up of what I wanted (epidural) and what I didn’t want. I think the opposite happened on almost everything on that list.. I got an interthecal, twice, because it didn’t take the first time.. then when the time finally came to have the baby the darn thing had worn off! Talk about fun.
I try to switch things up with my son because he is a super picky eater.. We have some good, healthy, days and some not as healthy days ha ha.
Well said Chelsea. I think all moms have the best intentions and do what works best for them to mantain thier sanity. I’m the “actual fruit” mom or the “yogurt and a cookie” mom depending on the day. I’m guilty of being “that mom” though when I see a pregnant woman smoking – if I know the person I’ll probably call them out on thier poor choices they’re making. Besides that one hot button for me, live and let live.
This. Is. Amazing. First I love NickMom on the rare occasion I get to watch it. The snack guide is hilarious because I am DEF a fruit snacks mom and look at those Bento Box moms with that exact thought in my head. Thanks for that laugh today.
Ha ha ha, once upon a time I tried to make something similar to a bento box for the girls with perfect little portions of cutsy-looking nutritious foods, and the girls essentially tore them to shreds in the literal sense, not the omg-they-ate-every-bite-like-its-the-best-food-ever sense. I was so mad I chucked all the food in the garbage, yelled f*ck this out the window (I’m sure my neighbors thank me for that) then made some PB&J sandwiches, slapped down some goldfish crackers, then grabbed myself a bitch beer and sat out on the patio until my urge to kill subsided.
Oh, the joys of motherhood, ha ha ha!
I will admit that I am the nanny that says something about kids being buckled incorrectly in a seatbelt or car seat, if I notice it. I try not to judgemental, though, and will nonchalantly adjust straps if I can, without making a big deal out of it.
You’re a pretty stellar mom. No doubt about that.
This may sound crazy, but through raising my puppy, I realized there are some things I’ll more than likely do with my kids An example of the top of my head? My dog is driving me nuts when I just want to get something done, but then he decides to go rip up a receipt he found on the floor. He’s not eating it, he’s not harming anything and we’re both happy. Done. Provided my kids aren’t drawing on the wall or the puppy or furniture or doing something dangerous, I’ll probably be the same way.
Side note, I wanted an epidural, until I saw one given in the hospital. I know that they numb you first and you don’t actually feel it but I know the process of how it goes in and that weirds me out. haha. I know I’ll cave and get one though. And then cry that a catheter is in my spine.
You’re an awesome mom. It’s obvious even through your blog and facebook/twitter posts, regardless of whether you feed Alea fruit snacks or not 🙂
Amen, sista! You said it! If “that mom” insists on being that way, that IS fine, but it’s right there with religion and politics – keep it to yourself! Sometimes it’s good to learn on our own, sometimes it’s not, but either way, the only person who knows what’s right for their child is the mother. We’ll all make mistakes, some will make fewer than others, but it’s not your job or anyone else’s to tell another person how to live!
So with our first son- I was “that mom”- that mom who didn’t even have a birth plan typed up, had planned to take the freaking epidural, had NO friggin idea how to use the carseat (who needs practice? I mean really?!), and let him cry it out at 5 months because holy crap. the kid would.not.sleep. Yep. that mom 😉 And today? I’m “that mom”- the one who texts every person she kknows to try to get more than 2 kids to come to his birthday party a few years ago. (Um, desperate? noo not at all!) and the one who counts cake as breakfast sometimes. After all it has all the makings of a complete breakfast, right?!?! haha I am dying over that site! So amazing 🙂
Love it! I’m not a mom yet, but this is great to remember whenever I become one!
I am the mother of four – and started with twins who were very premature. I am so NOT “that mom!” Love the post and I will check out NickMom
I’m so all of the moms depending on the day//my mood! And I hate those moms on certain days too! HA!
LOVE this post 🙂
So funny story about not being THAT mom. When Jonah started mother’s morning out this Fall (2 days a week – he stays with my mom the rest), they offer lunch and it said Tuesdays would be Chicken Nuggets and Sweet Potato fries..and some kind of fruit. I was kind of complaining about it to my husband and saying we’ll just have to pack him a lunch and trying to come up with what my 1 year old would eat out of a lunch box was kind of anxiety provoking. I don’t mind that he eat chicken nuggets, I just didn’t think they should be feeding them that every week, but of course I didn’t say anything. Sure enough the first day of school he came home with a note: “there has been a menu change. We will no longer be serving Chicken Nuggets, they will be replaced with Baked Chicken” Whew someone else was that mom and I didn’t have to be. So now I am happy to put my Y next to the Lunch on the sign in sheet. Sweet potato fries and all.
I love that snack offering chart. Hilarious. I may have to check out the website. 🙂
So after our Google hangout the other night, I decided to let Stella in on one of my vlogs. She shared some of her favorite foods…and surely enough, she said her favorite vegetables were broccoli (500 pts for that one), chicken nuggets (uhhhhh, wrong food group!!), fruit snacks (yep, more points for this mama, ha)….and then she said onions and salad (which is totally untrue, by the way). But I’m sure she’ll turn out just fine!! and we were totally co-sleepers, too. Tried the cry it out method until several nights in a row she would cry and PUKE within 30 seconds. No thanks, not right for us!! P.S. you are a fabulous mama!!
OH man I’m all too familiar with the cosleeping thing. My daughter (child #2) was the same way as your daughter, and she quickly became a chest sleeper, then moved into a co-sleeper. I still sometimes wake up in the morning with her laying on my chest, she’s 4 now and has her own bedroom. Those are the best mornings. #3 coslept for a long time too. It was the best of times and a cosleeping mama gets an insane amount of sleep assuming she can fall asleep nursing. You’re doing a great job. My first child lived on chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers. He’s a little genius child (a la Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory). He’s awesome. Just like I’m sure Alea will be too. Great job on this campaign! #client