I love my family, BUT....
They freakin' annoy me. I took Lily to Goshen to visit family and go to my cousin's baby shower this weekend. (She plans on breastfeeding, yay.) So Lily had lots of visiting with aunties and grandmas, and I had lots of shuttling between houses and trying to get places on time and get out of town at a decent time.
Annoyance #1: "When are you going to stop breastfeeding?" Lily turns one year in a few more weeks, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I got that question. Twice. (From Grandma R and Aunt Dawn.) They didn't say directly, but I get the impression they think I should have stopped by now or stop when Lily turns 1 year. I told them that I didn't have a particular date or age in mind to stop. I wanted to say that LILY will decide when she's done nursing (not me!), but I'd like to keep nursing her to 2 years or past -- but I figured that would freak them out. :-) At least Mom is supportive -- when I told her about Grandma R asking when I would stop nursing, Mom exclaimed "Lily is so little and she's doing so well on breastmilk, why would you stop!?!" :-) Thanks Mom!
Annoyance #2: Will you people STOP shoving food in my baby's face!!! Please ASK ME FIRST! Grandma R and Dawn both fed her table food before I could stop them or at least OK what they were giving her. Luckily, Lily didn't gag, choke, or puke on them, and she seemed okay with the stuff she got. And they weren't giving her anything bad, per se... it's just that Lily has been so slow to pick up solids, that I'm being very careful with what I introduce and how, and it worried me that she'd get sick from having cream cheese or raspberry sauce (with all those little choking hazard seeds in it!) or bean soup.
Annoyance #3: Smoking in the basement... really? I appreciate that they're not smoking in the same room as Lily, but seriously, going to the basement to smoke is asinine. SMOKE RISES.
Annoyance #4: Mom's pain/medical problems and living conditions. Mom worries me. I caught her several times wincing and seeming like she was gasping in pain or having trouble catching her breath. She's complained to me about the severe pain she has in her side and back, but she doesn't seem to have talked to her doctor about it. I'm so frustrated because there's nothing I can do to help her. She should be getting help -- a prescription for the pain, at least -- but she just doesn't seem to make any effort to help herself. The same goes for her living conditions. She told me it's been a month since she had hot water because her water heater broke. She got another one, but it's sitting in the living room because David hasn't installed it. (Okay, seriously, David better hope to God I don't get within twenty feet of him, because I want to hurt that man for being a useless shit and putting Mom through hell. Mom should throw him out, put a restraining order on him. Or better yet, move into a livable place and leave him in that rotting, broken trailer. But she won't. ARRRRRRGH!!!!!)
Annoyance #5: Migraines. Okay, this is indirectly related to family. The drive home was hellish because it was a bright, sunny, beautiful day... and that bright sun on the snow gave me a fucking migraine. I threw up in Wabash (luckily I managed to pull over and get the door open, so I hurled on the street). I won't be eating beans for a while... they look the same going up as going down... so gross. I don't know how I managed the rest of the drive home, but I did. Lily, the little sweetie, slept peacefully the entire way home. And Eric took care of us both when we got home.
So, after those annoyances, it was so good to get home to my wonderful hubby. He did a lot of moving stuff around when we were in Goshen, so Lily's room and the guest room (former office) are pretty much set up now. :-)
Annoyance #1: "When are you going to stop breastfeeding?" Lily turns one year in a few more weeks, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I got that question. Twice. (From Grandma R and Aunt Dawn.) They didn't say directly, but I get the impression they think I should have stopped by now or stop when Lily turns 1 year. I told them that I didn't have a particular date or age in mind to stop. I wanted to say that LILY will decide when she's done nursing (not me!), but I'd like to keep nursing her to 2 years or past -- but I figured that would freak them out. :-) At least Mom is supportive -- when I told her about Grandma R asking when I would stop nursing, Mom exclaimed "Lily is so little and she's doing so well on breastmilk, why would you stop!?!" :-) Thanks Mom!
Annoyance #2: Will you people STOP shoving food in my baby's face!!! Please ASK ME FIRST! Grandma R and Dawn both fed her table food before I could stop them or at least OK what they were giving her. Luckily, Lily didn't gag, choke, or puke on them, and she seemed okay with the stuff she got. And they weren't giving her anything bad, per se... it's just that Lily has been so slow to pick up solids, that I'm being very careful with what I introduce and how, and it worried me that she'd get sick from having cream cheese or raspberry sauce (with all those little choking hazard seeds in it!) or bean soup.
Annoyance #3: Smoking in the basement... really? I appreciate that they're not smoking in the same room as Lily, but seriously, going to the basement to smoke is asinine. SMOKE RISES.
Annoyance #4: Mom's pain/medical problems and living conditions. Mom worries me. I caught her several times wincing and seeming like she was gasping in pain or having trouble catching her breath. She's complained to me about the severe pain she has in her side and back, but she doesn't seem to have talked to her doctor about it. I'm so frustrated because there's nothing I can do to help her. She should be getting help -- a prescription for the pain, at least -- but she just doesn't seem to make any effort to help herself. The same goes for her living conditions. She told me it's been a month since she had hot water because her water heater broke. She got another one, but it's sitting in the living room because David hasn't installed it. (Okay, seriously, David better hope to God I don't get within twenty feet of him, because I want to hurt that man for being a useless shit and putting Mom through hell. Mom should throw him out, put a restraining order on him. Or better yet, move into a livable place and leave him in that rotting, broken trailer. But she won't. ARRRRRRGH!!!!!)
Annoyance #5: Migraines. Okay, this is indirectly related to family. The drive home was hellish because it was a bright, sunny, beautiful day... and that bright sun on the snow gave me a fucking migraine. I threw up in Wabash (luckily I managed to pull over and get the door open, so I hurled on the street). I won't be eating beans for a while... they look the same going up as going down... so gross. I don't know how I managed the rest of the drive home, but I did. Lily, the little sweetie, slept peacefully the entire way home. And Eric took care of us both when we got home.
So, after those annoyances, it was so good to get home to my wonderful hubby. He did a lot of moving stuff around when we were in Goshen, so Lily's room and the guest room (former office) are pretty much set up now. :-)