Poor Little Bunny Foo Foo

Occasionally you have to deal with unpleasant things as an adult or parent. This week I went outside to grab my trash can to put it away. It had been pouring all day the day before and I found a rabbit who had been hit by a car. I am not sure what happened to Little Bunny Foo Foo but it was deceased. I couldn't leave it laying on the sidewalk by my mailbox. I didn't want my son to see it or any other kids. So, I grabbed a trash bag and some other bags to pick it up. The only other time I have dealt with a dead wild animal was a bird last year which I believe flew in to the back of my house. I mentioned it to my mom and she reminded me how bad it will smell. Remember that my trash day wasn't for six more days.

I am sure you are wondering why I am telling you such a sad and terrible story. I promise I have a reason. I had no idea what to do with it. I remembered that when I went to a daycare there was a raccoon and I vaguely remember animal control coming out and saving the day. I started googling to see what I should do. I didn't really find much information about it. I looked up the number for animal control and called them. I believe they were closed so it told me to call the sheriff's office. I felt like a total idiot calling. It was the non-emergency number and the woman was really nice. She told me that they don't deal with wild animals. She suggested that I call the department of natural resources. So again I felt like an idiot and called. She told me to throw it away in the trash or if I had a wooded area that I own to put it there. So, I quadruple bagged it with my apple scented trash bags. This was a moment where I wished I had a guy to take care of it. I am very self sufficient and used to doing things myself. The thought of the bunny and the smell made me sick. I took care of it though. I didn't have a choice and I am glad that I am able to do things for myself even if it's disgusting.  I am slightly traumatized I think. I saw a bunny outside hopping around and got really worried when it was close to the road.

I personally think it's silly that other people have to take care of deceased wild animals and there isn't a service that will do it. So when you accidentally hit an animal someone else has to clean up your mess. Drive safely and watch out for our furry friends. No one wants to have that in their trash can.

Toddlers and Tiaras Teaches Little Girls Appearance is Everything

I wrote a post about what is wrong with tv these days and I was thinking about what shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect teach little girls. Ok I don't think Little Miss Perfect is on any more.  I know these are not kids shows but there are still commercials for them and they appear on talk shows and they sometimes cover it on the news. I am concerned with child beauty pageants anyways. I am sure some people will argue that it teaches self esteem and blah blah blah. There are more healthy ways to teach self esteem. There are better ways to feel good about your self. Beauty pageants focus on outer beauty and they are forced to wear gobs and gobs of makeup and wear fake teeth called flippers. They are many times the little girls are dressed in skimpy little outfits that I would never wear as a grown woman. They look fake. 

 They are taught to be fake little puppets that are are taught that the most important thing in the world is to be beautiful and to have the prettiest face. What is wrong with letting kids be kids? Why not teach them that they are beautiful without the makeup and the false teeth and spray tans. Beauty comes from within. It doesn't matter what you look like as long as you are kind and have a good heart.  Beauty isn't putting on clown makeup and being told by judges that you are the most beautiful. You don't need someone judging you on your appearance. How you feel about yourself is what is important. The parents need to stop brainwashing their children but subjecting their little ones to judgement and paying for them to be judged. It's almost as if they are trying to prove to themselves that their child is good enough. Every child and person is good enough, and no one should have to tell you that. If you don't believe it, it doesn't matter how many pageants you have won or how many times you are told a day you have to believe it. 

 Loving yourself is the most important thing.

I Do Not Want Your Unwanted Parenting Advice....Sorry

For those of my readers that are parents, I am sure you have encountered this at some point at least once as a parent. People who tell you how to raise your child or give you unsolicited advice, I am sure in most cases it is someone who wants to help, other times they have other motives. I knew this girl who would give me parenting advice, things that worked for her niece and nephew or someone who thinks they know what is best for my child. I am glad that those things would work for them but my child is his own person, things work differently for different children.

I remember when Noah was 6 months old and he would wake up in the middle of the night crying for a little bit. I had mentioned it to his doctor in one of his visits. She told me to wait 5 or 10 minutes before going in there. I mentioned it once and this person started calling me a bad mom, saying I didn’t take care of my son; of course that was not the case. I was following the advice of his doctor who specializes in children. As long as he was fine, it was ok for him to cry a little bit. He wasn’t in danger or being ignored. He was learning to self soothe himself. I would let it go for the exact time limit and then go check, most of the time he was back asleep. I knew that person was trying to upset me and I didn’t let it. I was a mom and I was doing a great job.

It is easy for someone who is not a parent to give advice. It is easy for them to say I would do this, or I wouldn’t do that. It is different when you are a parent and you know your child. I am sure people who want to have children think about what kind of parent they want to be. There are quick judgments about how someone raises their child. I am definitely not saying that there are instances where it is wrong for a parent to do something that is harmful to their child, because I know sadly that’s not the case. It does happen but at the same time there are many false accusations made against parents that are doing nothing wrong. I think that if you suspect something going on that is truly harmful please report them, but it is not a tool to use to get back at or hurt someone with. Think of it this way, Child Protective Services or whatever it is called in your state gets ten calls from people that are just trying to punish an adult that is ten cases that are legitimate are getting pushed to the side. I know that many parents like me love my child so much and he is my world.

It seems like everyone has an opinion when it comes to parenting, which is fine. I know that is perfectly ok to have your opinion, but at the same time if someone doesn’t ask for advice, maybe you should just keep it to yourself. Comments that other people make telling you what to do with your child are very annoying. Depending on what the comment is, it could really make them upset. It really could make someone question themselves as parents. They might wonder if they are doing a good job. I am not talking about the parents that don’t really deserve to be a parent, but good loving mothers and fathers.

There are some people I welcome parenting advice from such as my mom, my son’s doctor or any doctor, and if the person was degreed in something child related such as a counselor. I would also welcome parenting advice from my cousins that have children because I know they know what they are doing. I know that they wouldn’t tell me advice unless I asked. I would remember that just because it worked for their child, it may or may not work for mine. I know from talking to friends about our children, some things don’t work for siblings either. Every child is different, just because it works for one it may not work for another.

So, if you are not my mom, or not a doctor or the like or I didn’t ask you what to do, then please don’t tell me how to raise my child. Even then I don’t always follow my mom’s or anyone’s (other than his doctor’s) advice. I just ask their opinion and take it in to consideration. I know that I ask my friends for advice sometimes, as they ask me but it is always solicited. You might think you are helping but wait until someone asks about something before saying something that could upset them.

Have you ever received off the wall parenting advice? Have you ever had someone who had no clue what it is like to be a parent give you advice?

Does You Baby Need to Diet?

I try to watch the news at least once a day so I know what is going on in the world. Usually it is at 5 pm. Lately there have been stories about parents putting their babies, yes babies on diets. They are afraid that they will be obese. I personally think that is sick. Babies don’t need to be on diets. They are babies.
 If you knew me when I was a baby, I was huge. I was a chubby little toddler too. I will post a picture of me so you can see how big I was. I ended up being normal or maybe a little too skinny. I think it is wrong to put your baby on a diet. I am not sure exactly how that would even work? Cut out formula or breast milk the child needs for nutrients? Limit their strained pears or peas? Cut out Cheerios and goldfish?

Seriously, babies don’t have huge stomachs. Do they strap them to baby sized treadmills and make them sweat to the nursery rhymes? Then that would cause the baby to be malnourished. What happened to the time where everyone wanted big healthy babies? Now even babies are being a victim of the size matters mentality. Is this healthy to our children’s self esteem, telling them that they are fat and need to diet?

I know that it is unhealthy to sit around and eat candy all day, and eat a lot of fast food. The parents make that choice they are the ones that are in control of what their child eats. I think that treats and fast food are fine in moderation. I would never put my child on a diet for weight loss issues. If it were a medical diet then sure, I am going to do what is best for my child. The baby diet is ridiculous and I am not sure why anyone would subject their child to that. I do believe in teaching about healthy eating and understanding about moderation. If my child had his way he would eat candy all day and Rice Krispy treats all night. It is my job as his mom to say no, you can have a little bit of candy and one Rice Krispy treat. I feed my child HFCS sometimes. I let him eat fries from Mc Donald’s. I do these things in moderation.