On My Mind Lately...

So as of lately I have been thinking a lot about "The Mommy Wars." Some of you may have heard of them. For those that have not, "The Mommy Wars" was a term that was originally used to describe the controversy between working moms and stay-at-home moms. Lately, this term is being used to describe other parenting issues such as breast feeding vs. formula feeding.  This post is not to add to the "Mommy Wars," but it is my own personal thoughts over the last few weeks. I am not saying my way is best, I am just writing down my thoughts about how it is okay for every mom to raise their child differently. 

Moms are posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. what they believe are the best ways to be raising children. My own social media feeds are blowing up with pictures, research, and links to articles that are supposed to be the best ways to be raising babies, and for some, it is exactly the right way, but for others, it may not be. 

After  reading the shared articles and realizing that I am not doing what the "experts" say I should be doing, I am left with a nagging thought in the back of mind, wondering if I am being the best mom I can be to my son. I quit nursing my son after two months, yep that is right he is 100% formula fed and has been since October. Now I know that "breast is best," but I was one of those women who had all different kinds of problems with nursing. It was one problem after another and I was completely miserable. I did do it for two months and I tried to keep an open mind, but in the end I just couldn't do it. Kason also preferred the bottle and nursing him was a battle. For the sake of my marriage and the relationship with my baby, I quit the nursing and moved to the bottle. It has been great, we are all happy. I am no longer miserable and crying to my husband every time I feed the baby, and the baby loves his bottles. 

 I started feeding him rice cereal at 3 1/2 months instead of waiting until 4-6 months. I started feeding him fruits and vegetables at 4 months. Guess what? He loves the cereal, fruits, and veggies. He hasn't developed any allergies and he is fuller longer. He is not screaming every hour and a half because he is hungry. He also sleeps through the night because those stay with him longer. 

 He has been sleeping in his own crib in his own room down the hall since he was 1 month old. Now I know that you are supposed to wait until they are 6 months old to move them into a crib in their own room, but we all sleep better with our rooms. When we go on trips, Kason sleeps in the same room as us, and he doesn't sleep as good as he does at home. When Kason shares a room with Jake and I, none of us get as much sleep. Our noises and movements wake him up, and vice versa. That first month when Kason was in our room I would hear every movement he made and would wake up and feed him. He wasn't always really awake, and we were waking up more than we probably had to. He would whimper a little and I would think he was awake and hungry and so I would flip on the light which would really wake him up. Now that  he is in his room I can't hear every little whimper and I only wake up when he cries and I know he is really awake. I walk down the hall and take care of things in his room. My husband who is in school and working also sleeps better because I am not flipping on the light and making noise. He sleeps so much better in his own room and so do I. 

 Dare I say it?  I put him to sleep on his belly. Yes, you read that right, I put my baby to bed on his belly. For the first 3 months I put him on his back which worked alright, but after Kason had his surgery and he had his helmet on, "Back to Bed" was not working for us. On the back of Kason's helmet there is a large strap that holds the two pieces of the helmet together, and every time I laid him down he would jolt awake because he was uncomfortable in the helmet. The large strap made it impossible for him to lay flat and the helmet would dig into his neck. After several nights of him being up every hour because he was uncomfortable, I finally put my fears aside and put him to bed on his belly. He slept so much better! I was so scared to do this because it is a big "no-no," but he was so uncomfortable and he was rolling to his belly by himself in his crib anyway so I decided to try it one night. I must have checked on him 30 times that night because I was so nervous, but he did just fine, he loved it. I was put to bed on my belly and I survived.

All of these "confessions" go against all of the expert articles that I have read. So is my baby not bonding with me like he should be because he isn't breast fed and he sleeps in his own room? I don't think so! We have plenty of play time and I enjoy looking and smiling at him when he drinks his bottle. For those that do choose to co-sleep, that is great! I just couldn't do it! 

Only within the last week or so have I realized that yes, I may be doing it differently than some, but I am not a bad mom. There is not a one size fits all for raising a baby. What is important is that as a mother I am listening to my baby and my instinct and I am doing what is best for us. I think each mom knows what is best when it comes to her child.  I have a happy, healthy, six month old who is thriving.  I have nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, I may not be doing the same thing as other moms, but that is okay. I love my son, and I am pretty sure he loves me, and that is what is important. 

I know that Kason came to our family because we are the best fit for him, and him for us. Babies go to the families that will be the best at raising them. Each mom raises their child differently, and it works for them. I know that now, I don't have to be doing it the same as everyone else. I just need to be me, and I am raising Kason in the best way for him. 

Craft-Menu Board

I have been wanting to make a menu board for months now, but just didn't know how to go about doing it. After getting a few ideas off of Pinterest, I combined things I liked and created my very own menu board. I made this craft for under $20 dollars.

Supplies:
insulated cookie sheet ( I chose one with a hole in the top, just to make it easier to hang)
coordinating paper
poster putty
velcro
magnetic pencil cup
small notepad
cheap magnets
hot glue gun
vinyl
ribbon

The most challenging part of this craft for me was figuring out how to get the paper to stick to the cookie sheet. I found that small amounts of poster putty worked great! I would just place small amounts around the edges. I would just make sure the pieces were pulled flat so that the paper wouldn't look bubbled. Maybe I did it the hard way? I don't know, as I said before, I didn't know how to go about this craft and so this craft was a lot of trial and error.

Once I got the paper to stick and look smooth, I cut the vinyl. I used my Cricut to cut the word the "Menu" and the days of the weeks for the magnets. If you don't have access to vinyl, paper will work just fine.

I then set about making the magnets for each day of the week. I just bought cheap magnets at Walmart. I cut seven 1 inch circles using my Cricut. I then pulled the clear bauble away from the magnet and stuck my own circles on top of the magnet. I then used a hot glue gun to glue the bauble back on.

For the grocery shopping list notebook I used velcro to adhere it to the board. I then made the dinner cards and placed them in the magnetic pencil cup.

I then threaded ribbon through the handy dandy hole at the top of the sheet and tied a knot. And tada! Menu board complete!

I am really excited with how this turned out. I got really frustrated trying to figure out how to make the paper stick,  but once that was solved I loved this project. I am so excited to begin using it. I am hoping that it will help me to get organized in my meal planning and shopping.