Don't Mess with Mama Bear!!

Ok, you just don't mess with a Mama or her cubs...

What is spurring this? Let me break it down for you.

Last night after we got home from my sister's, we put Jayden to bed but Jaxson woke up. He was tired, but being the fighter he is...he just wouldn't relent and go back to sleep. Jax is our high maintenance, "diva" child. He knows what he wants and he wants it NOW. He wants it when he wants it, how he wants it and that's that. If he doesn't get it, he pitches a fit. A BIG fit... We live in an apartment. Apartment living doesn't allow for privacy when it comes to temper tantrums and I'm pretty sure everyone heard Jaxson's hysterical screaming fit last night because I wouldn't walk around the house with him strapped to my back for a half hour. I know one person heard for sure and she was definitely vocal about it.

Because of living in an apartment and not wanting to disturb my neighbors with my kid's incessant screaming I usually give in to his demands. However, I don't want to have a spoiled brat for a child, so I'm getting to the point where he needs a hard lesson to show him he doesn't always get what he wants. Even his doctor knows this is his personality and it's fine to just let him cry and scream for a while. It won't hurt him. He's dramatic and over the top, but that's okay. So last night, I let him cry. I picked him up and held him in my lap, tried to give him his milk and his binky and his blanket. Nothing. He just cried... tears streaming, face red, throwing himself on the floor, ear-piercing cries and screams. Drama, drama, drama. I sang to him, patted his back, talked to him... anything to calm him down. But I wasn't about to pace back and forth through my house all night holding him. He wanted me to hold him, but he wanted me to do it standing up. Sitting down wasn't good enough.

All of a sudden one of the neighbors who is in the neighboring building screams out at us, "Take care of your baby!!". Um, what the fuck do you think I was doing you idiot? All I have to say is that she's damn lucky that Aaron was the one who went out there to tell her to be quiet and mind her business. Even as a Christian woman I would have had more than just a few choice words for her. Who the hell judges someone's parenting on the fact that a child cries? Did she see me sitting there cuddling my baby, trying to feed him and soothe him, but still parent/discipline him?? No. The only damn thing she cared about was that it "broke her heart" that MY child was crying... so she just assumed I was beating the tar out of him or abandoning him. That's just one thing you don't mess with when it comes to me. I'm a damn good mom and I'm proud of it. I'm not perfect, but I take care of my children and love them more than anything, so to even make a snide comment like that not even knowing the situation or child pisses me off to no end.

Honestly, if it really bothered her that much, she could have just wheeled her crippled ass back inside her apartment. She made the choice to sit outside and listen. Sorry, but I'm not going to curb my parenting style because you can't handle my kid's cries. Guess what? Kids cry. Especially young ones. And I've got two of them and will have three come February. You don't have to deal with the outcome of giving in to my child's every whim to keep him quiet just so I don't have to worry about people thinking I'm hurting him or something. I do. I will have to deal with the spoiled brat that he will become because he thinks he can get what he wants when he wants it ALL THE TIME. Kids have to learn sometime and somewhere. Apparently an apartment isn't a good environment for that. Seriously, I even had someone call the cops to check on us at like 10:00 at night because Jax was crying. Um, yeah. It was his bed time and he was excessively tired. WTF? I guess we just can't catch a break. At the same time, I shouldn't even have to defend my parenting or explain myself to anyone!

All I have to say is that I really hope we can get a house soon. I need my own four walls that are not shared in any close proximity to anyone else so that I don't have to deal with the SWAT team descending upon my living quarters when my child screams for longer than 10 minutes. I should be free to parent my kid any damn way I choose without interference from someone I've maybe said hi to once in three years. You know, because they know so much about me, my kids, and our parenting. That neighbor better watch herself if and when we cross paths again. If she ever says anything to me about how she thinks I need to take care of my children again, she better set her wheelchair to super speed and book it the hell out of there.

You just don't mess with Mama Bear or her cubs...


Oh, and speaking of moms: I told my mom that I was pregnant yesterday. I didn't do it face to face because I'm a chicken and I knew she'd be upset. I just didn't want to deal with it, honestly. I figured it would be better for her to have some alone time to process it, so I wrote a letter "from the baby" to Grandma for her birthday. She called me later that night, obviously upset, but she'll be okay. My mom worries over anything and everything, and I told her it's pretty sad that I can't be excited to tell my own parents I'm having a baby (you know, it's not like I'm single, broke, and sleeping around) but it is what it is. I know she'll come around and I feel a little more peaceful now that she knows. I hate secrets. Plus it's nice... I tell her and she tells everyone else for me so I don't have to go through the same song and dance and face the firing squad ten times over. Yay for me. Now to tackle my dad this coming weekend...