You probably missed it yesterday if you read the Pearl. You were probably distracted by the smooshy sweetness of Pants zonked out with his dad. But if you have an eagle-eye, you might have seen it. There in the crook of his arm...the bottle.
Dun-Dun-DUN! { Cymbal crash!}
If you saw it, I hope you didn't judge. I know that it's possible that some did. And I'm ok with that. It's hard not to judge sometimes. I get it. There are rules, right? Rules that people who haven't met my kid or yours have written into forty-two thousand parenting books. One of those rules is that three-year-olds shouldn't still have a bottle. And if they do, even though they shouldn't, it better not be chocolate milk in there.
Meh. I've never been a rule follower. I mean, it's not whiskey. I'd draw the line at whiskey.
Dun-Dun-DUN! { Cymbal crash!}
If you saw it, I hope you didn't judge. I know that it's possible that some did. And I'm ok with that. It's hard not to judge sometimes. I get it. There are rules, right? Rules that people who haven't met my kid or yours have written into forty-two thousand parenting books. One of those rules is that three-year-olds shouldn't still have a bottle. And if they do, even though they shouldn't, it better not be chocolate milk in there.
Meh. I've never been a rule follower. I mean, it's not whiskey. I'd draw the line at whiskey.
I could explain why he still uses his "bubba" but I'm not going to. Trust me, I am tempted. Because I am not immune from feeling bummed out by judgment. But I'm more stubborn than that (Note to self: That is why the kids are stubborn!). So I'm not explaining. Beyond shrugging my shoulders and saying that he still needs it. Someday he won't. That's all. See, I think it doesn't matter why. There could be a reason that would make people understand or not. None of that matters because I'm just not worried about it.
There are probably 20-30 (thousand?) things we do here at the Pants Ranch that I sometimes feel the knee-jerk reaction to explain. But I've made the decision to not do that anymore. It's not easy to do because of the whole culture of parenting judgment that seems to have so many of us by the nuts. But I vowed a while back to end my judgment of other parents. And it has been kind of awesome letting go of that negativity.
So now I am working hard on not giving a damn what others think about things like the bottle (Dun-Dun-D... oh forget it). Now I am working on my fear of judgment. We do things differently than many. And many people do things similar to us. Blah blah blah. I am throwing out the need to explain for fear of judgment. I am kicking it to the curb. Our three-year-old still uses a bottle. The end.
Do you ever feel the need to defend your parenting choices? Have you felt judged for your parenting? Have you handed out that judgment to others?
