A Reminder to Myself - Shutting Down the "Mom" Noise

Our healthy and sort-of-happy(?) guy

It's been another busy week - one that has been plentiful of mom-to-mom interaction. I'm lucky to live in a town that is great for raising children. There are activities galore for kids of all ages, and as a stay-at-home-mom, I've found a ton of stuff to keep Sammy and I busy during the work week.  

But lately, something has been bothering me a bit.

Though I don't consider myself an overly religious person, throughout my entire pregnancy, every single night I prayed that I would have a healthy and happy child. Those were the only two things of importance to me.  Those are still the only two things of importance to me. But sometimes I need a little help in remembering this.

Between play groups, music classes, etc., I interact with a lot of moms in town. And most of the time, I love this. There's nothing greater than having another mom to commiserate over a lackluster napping schedule, or being able to share the oh-so-exciting news that your son went from a laying down position to sitting up - all by himself - and having someone else understand how big time that is. Being a novice mom, other moms are a wealth of information, and for the most part, it's fantastic.

But sometimes, it's not.

There are times when I get tired of hearing which pediatrician is the best in town, or that breastfeeding is best. I'm over the whole organic food debate and sometimes, I just don't care that overpriced baby yogurt has more sugar in it than greek yogurt. If my child goes to the wrong preschool or wrong swimming lessons (did you know such a thing can exist?), is he really destined for a life of turning tricks on the street?

When your primary job is staying home and taking care of your children (and maybe even when it's not), it's easy to get caught up in all this "mom chatter". And all too often, I find myself either listening intently to the numerous debates that go on during my activities and taking mental notes, and sometimes even participating. It's very similar to that whole "keeping up with the Jones" phenomenon as no one wants to feel like they're not doing the absolute best for their child.

Anyway, lately this all seemed to be getting to me a bit and I voiced my frustration to James last night. And as he always seems to do, he put things into perspective and reminded me that the best thing we can do for Sammy (and any future offspring) is to be there for him and provide him with a solid family-based foundation. And looking back to my original goals for Sammy of being a happy and healthy kid, the answer does seem as simple as that.

I'm sure as Sammy gets older and we are faced with more and more decisions to make for him, the "noise" will only get louder and it will be that much harder to shut it down, but hopefully this will serve as a reminder to myself for when that time comes.

(Apologies for the deep thoughts on a Friday. I promise that my next entry, which is potentially about my new master bedroom artwork - accrued during another nightmarish trip to the craft store - will be of a lighter nature.)

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