Finding support in our community: people have been awesome since we’ve had a kid
Ever since we announced we were pregnant, I’ve been waiting. Waiting for the snide remark, the sarcastic comment. Waiting for rolled eyes and dirty looks. Waiting for the “you’re crazy”, the “you don’t know what you’re doing”, the “you’ll see“. But for the most part… I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
It’s a Mommy’s world — exposing Dadscrimination
Have you ever judged a dad who hangs at the playground or brings his kid to story time? Let’s put the kibosh on it already.
Insecure about your parenting? We’ve all been there
To the casual observer, the Parenting SPY is just the guy making a deposit at the bank or the old lady weighing melons in the store or this very woman staring at me in the waiting room. Sitting next to me in her judgmental crocs trying to figure out if I’m a good parent.
Yes, I’m pregnant: this doesn’t mean I’m public property
Don’t you just love the way everyone feels like they can comment on your identity as a mother and woman once you become pregnant? Oh yeah. Me neither.
How do I tell people I’m pregnant when I said I never wanted kids?
Some women dream of their child, the name, the sex, long before they even meet the partner they make their baby with. That’s not me — I have always felt a selfish twinge when picturing myself having biological children. My friends had children, my half-sister did, and it felt good and right for them. See, the ten years I spent so vocal about not wanting to bear children, people smiled condescendingly and told me, “Just wait,” muttering something about a clock. I didn’t suddenly freak out and then came baby, more the other way around.
I’m a happy teen mom. I know, right?!?
I do believe some of my struggles directly deal with my age. I was a first-time mom at 17 and am on my way to having a second before I turn 20. Shit is sure to follow. I occasionally get eyeballed during toddler playgroups and sometimes blatantly questioned about my age by curious mothers. It really isn’t that big of a deal, though. The only time that ever bothers me is if it’s followed by sympathy or straight-up negativity — it just seems silly to me. Could you imagine asking a mother her age and then apologizing for it?
Are we protecting our kids from the right things?
Parents don’t want their kids to make unpopular choices out of a feeling of love. And also, mostly, a feeling of fear. We love our kids and we want to protect them. We’re actually required to protect them. It’s part of our job as parents. However, we have the equally important job of deciding what to protect our children from.
No, that’s not my daughter: how being a sister prepared me for motherhood
Sometime in 8th grade I went to the store with my mom and my youngest sister, AJ. I remember people watching the three of us walking through the store with quizzical looks. They would look first at my mom, then to me, then to AJ, then back to me. Finally, as we made our way through the checkout, the cashier looked at me and said “Your daughter is so cute,” then back to my mother and finished “You are a lucky grandma!” I stared, my 14-year-old self feeling completely embarrassed and horrified, as my mom calmly answered, “Actually, I’m the mom. They are both mine.”