I’ve been inspired this morning by my friend dAAve, thanks for that my friend ;) dAAve posted this photo of an old ad.
So of course my mind began waking up and Google was opened.
Disclaimer: I’m trying to be a good blogger and source everything I reference, Bravo to SoberJulie, it only took 3 months to catch a ride on the copyright train.
I came across quite a few ads that made me think.
This ad was found here Quitting Smoking 4 U
1955 Seven-Up ad which I found here on another blog: The lunch tray.
After a taste of Spring like weather here over the last week of course Mother Nature decided to have a laugh at us and dumped a bunch of snow here last night.
At the ungodly hour of 7 am I woke up this morning to my 7 year old exclaiming VERY LOUDLY that it snowed last night! could she go outside? get up Mama and look at it all! oh my gosh I’m glad I found my other glove! we can make a snowman! come on Mama GET UP, let’s go play!
So today is a no bus day!!!
Yippee!!
Alas our girls attend a no bus school which means it is a school day as normal for them.
Boo Hoo.
I looked at their little sleepy faces and had 2 options:
1 – a day of lazy Winter fun (which if I have my choice is crafts, coloring and INSIDE fun)
or
2 – get make lunches, argue about getting dressed, brushing teeth and hair, struggle to get them into snowsuits and associated Winter gear, panic about driving in the SNOW, get them to school and have to make 2 more trips on the SCARY SNOWY roads.
Hmmmm decisions, decisions.
I caved (huge surprise).
So I made the “Best Mama In The Whole Wide World” decision to enjoy what I hope is the last snowy day of the year together instead of sending them to school.
Then I saw dAAve’s post and began reflecting on other choices I’ve made as a Mother:
How to transition from breastfeeding to formula and when.
What formula to use.
Which butt cream to use.
What baby classes to attend.
Will the Baby Einstein videos stimulate her brain or just plain exhaust her.
If we should give her the recommended vaccines.
What to feed her.
Are we introducting this new food too soon.
Going back to work after Maternity leave was actually difficult for me, I really loved being with my babies but ENJOYED work.
Who to choose as a babysitter.
How to, when to, omg what do you mean my choices changed????
What to do in an emergency situation, seriously who plans for these things???
Am I a GOOD Mother?
Isn’t that the age old worry of we Mothers?
Will my child grow and thrive to be the best her she can?
I seriously doubt that the Mothers who were in the 1950’s thought they would be harming their babies if they fed their babies beer, the overwhelmed Mom having a smoke to “deal” with her baby didn’t know of the health effects and the Seven-Up Mom certainly wouldn’t have known that said “wholesome” choice could rot the teeth right out of him/her.
But they worried just like I have.
I wonder if the hot cabbage leaves I applied to my breasts to help the milk let down will have ill effects, if the vaccines or medicines I’ve given will show negative health issues, if that time I wasn’t there to soothe my girls will scar them for life, if them being allowed to sleep in my bed after nightmares will make them needy adults, if I should have taken away the soother sooner….
It’s easy to get caught up in the cycle of worry but as my Mum likes to say to me:
“Your daughter won’t be wearing a diaper at her wedding nor will she have a soother, deal with today and go with your gut instinct as long as it’s in her best interest.”
Confidence as a Mother comes with experience which is a bit of an oxymoron because each child is different and the first time we experience situations we have no experience.
It’s a quandary, one for which there is no solution except time.
We can only do some research, weight the choices and go with our gut and give it up to God, hoping we make the right choices.
Much of Motherhood is intent, awareness and being grateful when you get it right in my humble opinion.
15 Responses
My mom's 'formula' for me was dehydrated milk and Karo syrup. I have always wondered if that didn't play a role in my glucose issues. You're right. We do the best we can with the information we have at that given time.'Morning, Julie!
It's hard not second guessing but in the end you've really got to trust your gut.
Morning ladies ;)
Things were so different back then. I was born in 1941. My mother smoked a lot. I never actively smoked, but "I smoked"..All my life until I left home at 18. I used to get a sip of beer too from my father at say, age 3 and 4..Incredible!!
I'm giving you a hug for two reasons: 1. I love this post today, and 2. because Wisconsin got their -ss buried in snow as well! Good decision on letting the kiddies stay home. I would have done the same thing. I worried about every decision until I realized I did the best I could with what I have. One day my 16 year old was busting me about something and I looked at him and said, "For your information none of you came with an owner's manual. You are being raised the same way I was, half wisdom, half "flying by the seat of your pants", and half-assed!" and guess what? "You'll be just fine" and we both burst out laughing! you go girl….
I reminded my mom today that experience is something you don't get until AFTER you need it. We both laughed!! Looking back, I remember her telling me that she fed me "formula" made of canned milk and corn syrup. I also remember standing – at the age of 6 or 7 years old – on the hump in the back seat so I could see where we were going (so I wouldn't be carsick) and being told (when the seat-belt pressed into my butt after they made me sit down) to shove that thing down into the crack between the seat and the back!! Every generation seems to have its own worries… it took me a long time to stop obsessing over whether I was doing it the way my mother did (the goal was NOT to do it that way) and just enjoy the children. Sadly I didn't do it enough – but my youngest (now 18) just told me that we did more right than we did wrong. :DYou never know what your kids will remember – I wager that for you, today was an investment in the "Mommy bank."
I LOVE this post. That was so me when I was in my baby making days. Worried about a lot but so wanted to do it perfectly. I am now approaching the other end of parenting, at least with some of my kids. Now I am having to look at the proof in the pudding. They aren't perfect, but they are all good loving people….and the ones who don't live at home with me, call me a couple times a week just to say hi. In all of our imperfections and humanness….we all love each other and that's good enough for today.
My mother and dad were both chain smokers. Not surprising I pick up the bad habit when I was 12 years old. I quit in 1976 :-)
Hey everyone, thanks for the comments, I just love reading your opinions/experiences. The day I wrote this post I didn't think I even had a topic….had no muse as they say. I find that I take something to ponder and appreciate from each comment.
Freaking hilarious ads!
Saw your blog on Adventures in Mommyhood … your post title caught me eye – as I am in the thick of potty training my two-year-old… ugh. So, thank you for that reminder – that she will NOT be walking down the aisle in a diaper! Love it. :-)New follower, ~Bec
I can't believe those ads! I'm sure the moms of 2050 will look back at us and think we were horrible, too.
@ Sarah, how did I know you'd dig them ;)@ Bec, WELCOME and thank you for coming to my blog. Ahhh the pressure of potty training, remember to breathe my friend. @ Carri, I'd be money on it, heaven help me I used a baby wedge to keep my eldest sleeping on her side while swaddled….isn't that also known as straightjacket?
I often tell people that if Klaw refuses to go to college because he can't bear to leave the family bed, they can say "I told you so" about ruining him by cosleeping. I believe less people would get their panties in a wad about different parenting choices if more parents trusted their instincts when it comes to parenting. I believe I am making the best choices for my child.Your mom sounds like a wise lady.
With my twins I read EVERYTHING. I felt like I had no mom instincts. I followed every rule book, every step in my sleep book, and lived by the advice of friends.Fast forward to today and having another baby, and the only word I can think of to describe it is: "meh." I was so much more relaxed, didn't feel like I NEEED to be doing this or that. I felt like I knew what I was doing.