opting out
Parenthood is not a competition.
It is not about:
~ testing your pain threshold by refusing all painkillers, etc just to prove a point, and then yammering about it months after the delivery is over
~ outlasting the other mothers in the breastfeeding marathon (15 months! 36 months! onward ho!)
~ pumping more breast milk than everyone else, so much you have to buy a second freezer just for the milk
~ making sure your baby reaches his or her milestones, if not on time, then before everyone else does
~ how heavy your baby weighs
~ how much organic food you can feed your kid
~ buying designer baby clothes
~ getting in line for the best preschools because they are the best
~ putting your kid in weekend Shichida classes so that he or she can have a flashcard workout
~ losing the most postpartum weight, and more
~ how famous your paediatrician is, so that you end up waiting 2 - 3 hours just to see him
~ taking a righteous stance for or against television/pacifiers/thumb-sucking/sleep-training etc
~ having the best toys
~ trying to toilet-train your toddler by eighteen months
~ boasting to the other mothers at the playground while your domestic helper follows your kid up and down the slides, swings etc
~ boasting to the other mothers that you can Do It All, and that people who need helpers are weaklings
~ boasting. Period.
It is not about:
~ testing your pain threshold by refusing all painkillers, etc just to prove a point, and then yammering about it months after the delivery is over
~ outlasting the other mothers in the breastfeeding marathon (15 months! 36 months! onward ho!)
~ pumping more breast milk than everyone else, so much you have to buy a second freezer just for the milk
~ making sure your baby reaches his or her milestones, if not on time, then before everyone else does
~ how heavy your baby weighs
~ how much organic food you can feed your kid
~ buying designer baby clothes
~ getting in line for the best preschools because they are the best
~ putting your kid in weekend Shichida classes so that he or she can have a flashcard workout
~ losing the most postpartum weight, and more
~ how famous your paediatrician is, so that you end up waiting 2 - 3 hours just to see him
~ taking a righteous stance for or against television/pacifiers/thumb-sucking/sleep-training etc
~ having the best toys
~ trying to toilet-train your toddler by eighteen months
~ boasting to the other mothers at the playground while your domestic helper follows your kid up and down the slides, swings etc
~ boasting to the other mothers that you can Do It All, and that people who need helpers are weaklings
~ boasting. Period.