And so another trip to the Baby Weighing Clinic draws to a close.
A trip in which I received a literal pat on the back from the health visitor for maintaining Piglet’s centile, no less.
And then a metaphorical slap on the wrist for admitting that I sometimes (OK, maybe every day) feed him Organix baby fruit purees as desserts.
I can only imagine what the reaction would have been if I had said I gave him a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. WHICH I DON’T, BY THE WAY. What sort of mother do you think I am?
First it was “don’t you make them yourself?” as though buying a ready made puree was the comestible equivalent of popping a fag in the baby’s mouth “just so he could join in with the grown ups.” Oh sorry, I forgot, we are all supposed to be Surrendered Mothers now. I am supposed to be carrying Piglet on my back in an organic woven sling while I go out to tend the fields, whilst simultaneously teaching him how to count to ten in Mandarin and contorting myself into a yoga pose, before returning home for a nutritious meal of self-grown quinoa and organic goji berries.
Then it was “he shouldn’t be eating purees now. It’s time he fed himself.” This despite the fact that I had already pointed out that he ate the same food as me for his main course. Like, real actual food. Yesterday we had CURRY for Christ’s sake. And he feeds himself said curry, WITH HIS FINGERS. In fact, he wouldn’t even accept a spoon until last month, and the only reason he’s having any purees at all if because I’m so excited that he suddenly appears not only to like them, but to open his little mouth like a baby bird in the way that every other baby I have ever heard of has been doing since the age of six months. FINALLY.
The Buddha once said that the best way was the Middle Way, which would presumably mean that the best way of going about things is somewhere between Surrendered Mother and My Mother, who advocates jars of baby food at every opportunity, because “it never did you any harm,” and because it’s the best way to preserve the carpets. The again, the Buddha also abandoned his own wife and baby so that he could go and sit under a tree in the lotus position for seven years, so he’s no Penelope Leach himself. One simply cannot win.
Anyway, I came home and pureed an entire punnet of apricots. At least I made them myself.
Fab! Them fields don’t plough themselves! ?
X #babybrainmonday x
I usually care somewhere around 0% when it comes to advice about my kid. It’s really hard to screw them up too badly, I’m pretty sure
That’s the attitude I need to take! Thank you for reading.
Oh my God I PML at this. The quinoa and the berries. Howled. I pity you having such a sanctimonious health visitor. Shame on you for feeding him Organix. What on earth were you thinking? Fully salted crisps next time. Oh…no…wait. #Babybrainmonda
Oh no don’t mention Organix and crisps in the same sentence. Every time I feed him those Organix carrot sticks I feel I have to explain myself to anyone and everyone without a baby the same age by yelling “THEY’RE NOT WOTSITS! NO, THE’RE NOT WOTSITS!” at the top of my lungs in case they think I’m feeding my child crisps and start calling social services.
Brilliant post! I can totally see where you are coming from! Sometimes it is best to let the little one eat, rather than be picky about how and where it’s made, as long as we as parents know that it is reasonably healthy and not a tub of Ben and Jerrys! #babybrainmonday
That’s what I thought. Surely fruit puree can’t be too unhealthy. Can it…. Can it? Thanks for reading!
FFS those health visitors drive me crazy! I really found their sitting on the fence non committal advice screwed my mum confidence right up first time around. Poor baby #2 has been weighed about 3 times in her 11 month life, unlike the 3 times per minute of #1. X MMT #babybrainmondays
It really makes you worry doesn’t it? I’m hoping that if I have another baby (very big if. Biggest if ever) I’ll just be an old pro and never need to go to the weighing clinic, and can just pop them on the kitchen scales or something.
Your midwife sounds like a right old witch. Who cares who makes the fruit puree as long as he is eating fruit in some form or another.
After a horrendous first few months of motherhood with my first child due to a mother earth midwife, I learnt to lie through my teeth whenever I had to see them. Result, a satusfied midwife, a healthy baby and a (relatively) sane mother!
Thanks for linking up, Tracey xx #abitofeverything
I know! The irony was, I was-and still am-meticulous about what he eats. No chocolate, cake, biscuits, chips, crisps or anything else that could remotely be described as “junk,” and yet I still got it in the neck for giving him a fruit puree as a dessert!
So true…the Middle way is best? Which is the Middle way anyway? We try to do the best for our children and that’s what matters. I have heard so much stuff like that while raising my kids and it does damage your self confidence especially when you’re a new young mum. I sometimes wonder if the person actually thinks before they say something??
Ah, it’s a Buddhist thing, the Middle Way. Not that I am Buddhist, but there you go.
Thank you!