There's nothing I've had to work at finding balance in more than trying to be a good mom.
It's tough! There's the fight between wanting to tend to your child's every need and really needing to pee or take a shower or work out or eat. You know that if you don't take care of yourself you will lose it. But there are all those people and "studies" that say if you let your baby cry at all they will lose brain cells and be stupid. And how on earth could I ever live with myself if I made my baby stupid?!
*Side note - that one study they did that one time with no listed number of babies and no listed amount of real hard data with no doctors names attached to it. Ya, that one floating around facebook and every natural birthing blog that I love. I think it's bogus. Just throwing that out there*
Then I look at my mom friends that have children that cried it out when they were X amount of months or years old that have great, well-adjusted children. I look at my friends that have colicky babies or had colic themselves when they were little. They all cried a lot and they aren't stupid. Huh.
There's that ever-fun debate about vaccinations. Do you want to make your child autistic or put them at risk of having a horrible disease that could possibly kill them? Do you want to fill your child's body with all sorts of preservatives and crap or leave them unprotected?
This is fun stuff folks. This is the stuff being a mom is made of. Especially a first-time mom. And you know that the greatest part is? No matter what you decide, people will argue with you and tell you why you are making horrible decisions as the parent of your child! You would think as a bunch of mamas that have all been sleep-deprived and trying to figure this thing out would be more supportive of one another and our decisions for our families - no matter how different. But unfortunately it's just not true! I've been praised and degraded for the decisions I've made for my children and for our family. By other Christian women and mamas and by the online crazies too!
It's hard to find balance. Balance in the advice of your friends and your family and the crazies. I'm learning this time around as a second-time mom that balance is key. I HAVE to let Laney fuss in her swing or her crib every now and then or I'll never get to read my bible. I have to read and inform myself as much as I possibly can and then prayerfully make the best decision for our family. I have to understand that other mama's choices may not be mine, but that's because their family and their children are different! And that's ok!! As long as all our children are loved and cared for, why do we care so much about the specific choices others are making?
