Perpetual State of Flux

Moms, when dispensing your assuredly well meaning advice (solicited or otherwise) to pregnant women, please think about what you are saying and how you are delivering it.  Please be aware that what worked for you doesn’t necessarily work for every woman and certainly not for every unpredictable baby. 

Before I even learned I was pregnant, I was determined that once I became a mother my husband and I would make choices that were right for our family.  I understood that not every choice was going to be the most popular or the way that our friends were doing things. 

It was also around this time that I decided that I was going to do my best to RESPECT the choices that others were making for themselves and their families.  This was an attitude or perspective that was incredibly important to me.  Beyond the fact that the decisions of others don’t affect me personally and therefore are none of my business, I possessed a new found recognition of how absolutely terrifying this whole process can be and that for the most part we all are trying to do the very best that we can.

I had been cautioned about the onslaught of unsolicited advice that pregnancy and motherhood would bring. For the most part, I’m happy to hear from others and the opportunity to gain knowledge from their experiences. The thing that I have found incredibly disheartening is when the advice is delivered in absolutes and any deviation makes you at the least a complete moron or at most the worst mother that ever lived!!!