However, it is the unsolicited, unhelpful advice I have a problem with. If your "advice" is meant to insult my ability as a mom or insult my child, it would be especially helpful if you could just keep it to yourself. Every mom has those moments where she questions if she is making the right parenting choices. Every mom has her moments of doubt. Therefore, shouldn't we encourage other moms during these moments instead of bringing them down further?
For those who are unaware, I am a mom of three. Each of my children are a gift, unique, and precious. Each have their own challenges. My oldest, has down syndrome and autism. My middle, is a freaking genius. Keeping him challenged at school is a concern for us. He was reading at two. He is currently reading and doing math at a 6-7th grade level- he is in the 4th grade. No, we are not letting him skip a few grades. Emotionally and socially, he is a 4th grader! (Sorry, I digress.) Our youngest has been diagnosed with ADHD. Currently, he tops my mommy worry list.
So, for fun... to vent.... to let out the pent up anger and frustration.... I want to issue a challenge. I want to hear it! Tell me what "advice" you have gotten (or people you have had to deal with as a parent) that you have gotten frustrated with. Then, pass the post on to you parenting friends so they can vent, too! Let it out, Moms and Dads! We'll call it a BITE ME list and I will start.........
To the nurse who answered all of my medical questions regarding my son who was on life support at the time with the same generic answer of "it's because he has Down Syndrome." -BITE ME! (Even children with Down Syndrome have regular health issues, Moron!)
To the wonderful people who suggest my son's ADHD would be "straightened out" with a good spanking.... BITE ME!
Go ahead, don't be shy, add your own........... I'm sure I will be adding to the list, myself!
Before our oldest was diagnosed with Asperger's, we were criticized that our kids (he in particular) were "out of control"...at age 3!! This was given as a reason for not considering my husband for a ministry position.
ReplyDeleteWe were also told that the reason our oldest wouldn't eat a variety of foods is because we didn't enforce the "eat what's on your plate or don't eat" rule. Well, we tried that. Guess what? He didn't eat. He is already below average in weight and has no fat to burn. We told him he had to at least try everything. He would and then either gag (not a "yuck, I don't like this" kind of gag, more of a "this physically doesn't fit down my throat" kind of gag) or at worst, throw up.
Before our oldest was diagnosed with Asperger's, we were told that our kids (he in particular) were "out of control"...at age 3!! This was given as a reason for not considering my husband for a ministry position.
ReplyDeleteWe were also told that our kid wouldn't be such a picky eater if we enforced the "eat what's on your plate or don't eat at all" rule. We tried that. He didn't eat. He is already below average weight and has no fat to burn. We tried making him at least try everything on his plate. He did and would either gag (not a "yuck, I don't like this" kind of gag, more of a "this doesn't physically fit down my throat" kind of gag) or worse, he'd throw up. This wasn't a battle of the wills. Our son has a seriously sensitive pallet and can only tolerate the tastes and textures of certain foods. He is improving in that area and accepting more foods but not due to this advice.