I swore I’d never…

We all make promises to ourselves while awaiting the arrival of our little bundles of joy. Some moms say they aren’t going to let their children watch any television at all. Other moms say they are only going to feed them natural, organic foods. And others swear up and down they are not going to turn into their own mothers.

Only natural, organic foods for our babies!

Thatcher enjoying an ice cream treat

The two big things I told myself (and anyone else that would listen) were that I would make all of our baby food and that our baby would sleep in her crib in her own room from day one. I did attempt to make all of Addison’s baby food and succeeded at most fruits and vegetables. However, when it came to meat, I just couldn’t do it. I tried a couple of times and resorted to buying jarred foods from the grocery. We still try to feed her as much natural, organic food as possible, while keeping junk food to a minimum, but every now and then, she’ll get a treat.

Our contributor Andie feels the same way: “The one thing I was adamant about was Andrew eating healthy, whole foods and not a bunch of junk snacks, and I have pretty much stuck to that, although now that he’s a little older, I do let him have bites of cookies, muffins, etc. and I do give him Gerber cheese puffs on occasion.”

My baby is going to sleep in her own crib, no exceptions!

Now, the sleeping in her crib from day one, that one didn’t exactly go as planned. Addison spent the first few months of her life (after spending some time in the NICU) in her Fisher Price Rock n Play Sleeper. When she was about five months old, we finally made the move to her crib in her own room. And we had very little problems until she had her first hip surgery and came home in a spica cast. We weren’t supposed to lay her flat because if she leaked out of her diaper, and urine got between the cast and her skin, it could burn her. Our poor baby was in such an awkward position, she had a really hard time getting comfortable. For the six weeks following her first surgery, my husband and I took turns with Addison sleeping on our chest. She had two subsequent surgeries, resulting in another spica cast. And, yep, you guessed it. We co-slept with her, yet again, for fourteen weeks until the cast came off. Once the cast was gone, we started our chosen method of sleep training, and I am happy to say that she now sleeps in her crib in her own room for about eleven hours a night. We are all sleeping much better these days. I swore I’d never co-sleep with my baby but sometimes you just have to do what you can to get through the night, you know?

No television!!

Another thing I felt very strongly about was not using the television as a baby-sitter. But I will say that I am guilty of not abiding by my own rule here. There are times where I just need a few minutes to get dinner on the stove without a little person pulling on my pants leg and need to provide her with some distraction. I have grabbed the iPad more times that I can care to admit recently to occupy Addison with an episode of Bubble Guppies or Wonder Pets so that I can take care of dinner or catch up on laundry.

Our contributor Sarah can relate: “I swore up and down that I would NEVER let Emma watch Barney!!!!! It’s on right now! Amazing how quickly we give in to something that “works” and entertains/keeps baby happy! At least it’s educational!!”

I’m not wearing that thing! 

Mariann shares that before her son was born, she swore up and down that she would never, ever, ever wear a Baby Bjorn. “The truth is after he was born I don’t know how I would have gotten anything done without it! That thing is awesome!!! I put him in it and did laundry, cleaned up around the house, went to the grocery, even went to Jazz Fest when he was 5 weeks old. I don’t care how ugly or unfashionable it is, or how it makes me look like a stereotypical minivan-driving soccer-mom, it was one of my best baby purchases!”

Has anyone ever sworn they wouldn’t talk about bodily functions???

Our co-founder Ashley never thought she’d utter the words “bye bye poo poo,” but one night … well, you can read the story: “Because of our family’s schedule, it is not uncommon for Thatcher to hop in the shower with me at the end of the day. This is NOT ideal for either one of us (mama needs her alone time!) but sometimes it just has to work. A few weeks ago, we had the dreaded bathtub poop. Only we were in the shower. And my husband was not home. Thankfully this particular episode lent itself to a simple washing down the drain (don’t lie – you and your husband talk about baby poop consistency, too!) and since Thatcher is at a stage where he tells everything under the sun “bye bye” or “night night,” we did in fact say “bye bye poo poo” as we washed it down the drain.”

When Lindsay shared with her playgroup that her daughter finally went poo-poo on the potty, she said the best part was her husband “even face timed me to show me the poo poo in the potty! Oh the blessings of the digital age!”

Mariann noted that “not only did I swear up and down that I would never celebrate a milestone having to do with my kid’s poop, the thought of celebrating someone else’s kid’s poop was atrocious pre-baby. Now, I’m all about it! I feel like bringing her a cupcake…chocolate of course!”

Lindsay (a different one!), owner of Small Habit, told us that the one thing that comes to mind is taping the diaper on so she can’t keep taking it off. “That and realizing that I am turning into my MOTHER.”

Addison is only fourteen months old, and I realize that we have many more things that we will say and do that we never thought we would. And let’s face it, we ARE all turning into our mothers. But I’ve also realized that is not such a bad thing after all. I mean, they did raise us and we all turned out pretty well, right?

What things do you find yourself saying or doing with your children that you swore you’d never say or do?

7 COMMENTS

  1. omg Ashley – that story has me practically rolling on the floor….only because I never ever want that to happen to me. So far all the poo incidents have been when the hubs was giving her a bath and I’ve been spared.

    There are just so many things I couldn’t even begin to list them. Being a mom taught me a lot, not the least of which is that everything I thought I would be/do/say before I was a mom is a joke. lol.

  2. I swore I would never leave my babies at the sitter longer just to go to the grocery. Having 2 kids only a little more than 2 years apart…can make for an interesting makin’ groceries trip. Sometimes now, a trip to the grocery ALONE is the only ALONE time I have. 🙂

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