And I know I’ll probably be banished to some lonely corner of the Twitterverse where I’ll be slowly rocking back and forth and holding myself alone but, I could care less at this point. I meant it last night when it first came to mind and I mean it now as I’m typing this post. I hate parent Twitter. Not to be confused with just parents on twitter. I’m talking about the very specific group of tweeters, you know who they are. 

My kids are young, they could care less about the holidays right now. RJ JUST turned 4 so I’m excited that he’s starting to have a better understanding of the holidays and why they’re special, but prior to this year he could care less. Even still, I have tried to make it a point to create our own traditions once the fall season starts. We have been to the pumpkin patch every year, we visit Santa every year and we take family holiday photos. These are all things he doesn’t care about now but I hope with time they’ll both appreciate the countless fall/winter activities I drag them to every year.

I know I cant be the only one that feels like as mothers in the age of social media our decisions are constantly under a microscope. People are telling us whats best for our baby before they’re even born. You’re having a baby? You definitely need to breastfeed over formula. You had pizza at your one year olds birthday party? You’re horrible for not being a Pinterest mom and not serving homemade dinosaur shaped vegan chicken nuggets. Vaccinate? Poison. Don’t vaccinate? Selfish. What’s going into our child’s bodies is constantly critiqued and we often neglect to remember that what we use on the outside is just as important. 

I feel like I’ve always been a pretty confident parent. If there is one thing that parenting has taught me it’s always been to follow my instincts and to trust my gut. I’m definitely not a perfect mom but I know that I try my hardest every single day and as long as my kids go to bed happy then I’ve succeeded. 

Every morning (or night if you will) my alarm goes off at 230am. I snooze like 5 times, and then I try to detach Zayn without waking him up, sneak out of the room and get dressed in the living room so that I can be at work at 3 effing 30. In the morning. Since James works overnight also, that means I have two kids I then have to (sometimes) dress and move in the middle of the night to their respective locations so that they aren’t left unsupervised. Thank God for family! 

I see you. 

I see you wanting to crawl into yourself and hide as a stranger makes small talk with you about how cute and happy your kid is. I know you hate it. But the very sight of your child bounding around in public is enough to make any stranger smile, stop and ask questions

Parenting has never been a one size fits all thing no matter what generation you were born and raised in but I’m beginning to notice some patterns with millennial moms that weren’t so common with generations before us. 

Self-care is essential. 

I’ll give it to them. Gen X (and before) parents and grandparents were devoted! Not saying we aren’t devoted as parents but I feel like the stress on taking care of yourself to be the best parent you can be is so much greater than before. I seriously have learned (and am still learning) that you have to live for yourself in order to be the best for your family. I’m not talking about going to the club every weekend and leaving your kids home alone. But even small things like stepping away and taking a break for a few minutes has helped me to keep it together throughout the day. Do what makes you happy because a happy parent raises happy children. 

I seriously cannot believe I have a 6 week old. The freakin time has flown & before we know it school will be starting (I know it started for some people) and it’ll be the holidays. I love the holidays btw so I can’t wait. 

We’ve been spending a lot  time adjusting to being a family of 4 and I’ve been open to all options when it comes to finding ways to reduce time in doing everyday tasks.

*cues dinner*. With two kids under 3, one being a newborn making ANY meal takes 10000 times longer than it did before. One of the main things they tell you before giving birth is to freeze meals. Yea…. no. I didn’t have (read:make) the time to do that. 

**I wrote this post back in February of 2016 sometime and just found it in my drafts yesterday. I don’t know why I never published it cause it was (and still is) a relevant lesson. So I’m sharing it today… RJ is almost 3 now lol** 

RJs 15 months old! He’s such a big boy. Everyday he learns something new and it’s truly truly amazing to watch him discover the world. Being a mommy is so amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for all the freedom in the world. 

That being said, my boyfriend kindly reminded me that… RJ is 15 months old. He was all “Hey babe, remember when u judged XYZ cause she said she breastfed for 18 months…… RJ isn’t that far from it”. {insert my blank face here}. My baby is still breastfed & I have no shame in my game. People tell me all the time “it’s time to stop” and I ignore them because I’m amazing at not giving a crap what other people think about what I do with MY son. But truthfully, I’m ready for it to be over. And my boyfriend was nice enough to remind me of the golden rule of parenting: never say never!

 

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