Banned from Baby Showers

I found a new blog that I'm addicted to.  http://banned-from-baby-showers.blogspot.com/

Oh, how I love how Donna writes!  She's so blunt and honest; very open and just great to "listen" to.  Do I agree with everything she says?  No.  But she's getting me to think about how I will want things when we have baby #2. And she's helping me to work through my fear of offending people.

If you know me, you know I am a perfectionist.  I want to be the best at everything, I'll admit it.  I'm not proud of it and I'm better about it than i used to be.  but when I became a mother, this took on a whole new dimension.

I wanted to be the perfect mom, even though I know there is no such thing.  I am very sensitive to criticism about my mothering.  I don't know how else to word it other than that is my soft spot.

But I'm trying to work through that.  It doesn't matter if other people don't understand or approve.  It really doesn't. (I'm repeating this over and over in my head.)

I love that Donna's blog is called Banned From Baby Showers.  Sometimes I feel this way.  Its hard for me to keep my mouth shut about some things.  Like co-sleeping.  The evidence is there that it is actually safer for babies to sleep in the same room as their mothers.  But what does American society push?  Cribs in a cute "nursery" where the baby can learn to be by themselves.  I'm not saying that's all bad.  shoot, we decorated Oliver's room and have a beautiful crib in there...that he's hardly ever been in. (And he'll be 2 in August.)  Most of my friends do not co-sleep.  To me, its really not the matter of whether you do it or not...its about being open to the idea of it.  Don't write it off.  Why would you NOT want to at least learn about something that can be SO beneficial to both you and your baby? I feel this way about pretty much all aspects of attachment parenting.

I have learned a lot in my short, limited amount of time as being a mother.  I have learned what its like to feel like your heart is wrenched out of your body when your baby is in pain.  I've learned to love like I never thought possible.  I've also learned how strong I can be. 

Its late, and I'm rambling.  I have so much more to say.  Stay tuned if you want to hear more (possible ramblings) about attachment parenting and natural childbirth/parenting.  This is something I feel so passionately about; reading Donna's blog has really gotten me back to thinking about all these things again.