Expectations and judgements

I'm pretty sure that most of us parents can admit our expectations of parenthood were a little rocked when the day actually came to take that little bundle home, amiright ?? 

I'm by no means an exception. I had sooo many "I nevers."

I was never going to co-sleep. Ha! 

I was never going to spend so much money on baby carriers. 

I was never going to let others' advice get to me. 

That last one I have spent the last six months trying to stick with and I haven't always been successful.

Until last week. 

I was thinking to myself nor day, as I rocked my sweet slumbering babe in my arms, that so many parents out there would tell me that I was "doing it wrong." 

And then it hit me. Who cares? 

I LOVE baby wearing Jack. I LOVE soaking up time with him. Naps and all. 

Sure we have our moments when it'd be really nice to have a shower or to take a nap or to sleep through the entire night. 

But, to me, those things are not nicer than all do the cuddles and loves that I get from my boy. There will soon be a time when running around like a mad man and playing with his friends will be all he cares about and cuddles with his mama will be a forgotten pastime. 

So who cares that I parent like this? No one, really. There may be people who don't understand it or think their way is better. But for us, this works and I'm so happy that it does. 

I recently read a celeb blog post on judging mommies (don't judge my celeb gossip reading guilty pleasure! Lol) The post was from Jenna Von Oy, former Blossom star, and she published a letter she wrote to a judgmental teen after she used her own mouth to clean off her daughter's dropped paci. 

As a first-time mom, I've learned that with every aspect of parenting - no matter what you do - there is someone out there who thinks you are doing it wrong as I mentioned above. That all being said, you bet your a** I've cleaned off a paci a time or two (or more... Under certain circumstances) with my mouth before giving it back to my baby. He's healthy.  I'm healthy. And he's happy because he has his beloved pacifier, which makes this mama very happy! 

I'm by no means perfect when it comes to judging others. No one is. And there are certain parenting practices that I simply cannot condone, but for the most part I believe we are all just trying to do our best and be the best parents we can.