Shame, perhaps I was a #badmom by allowing the monkey to take the blame for the disappearing milk bottle.
Every-time we see a monkey now, Connor shouts out “Naughty Monkey, Monkey took my bottle”, which means my poor child is still hung up on this bottle story.
At the end of the video, you can tell he is not impressed with being a big boy!
Sorry my boy, but actually your bottle is still hiding in the top of the cupboard, but you cant have it back now.
Before I was a parent, I was one of those “perfect parents” (Argh! ) that knew my child would be potty trained soon, wouldn’t have bottle or dummy longer than 2 years and would never scream in the shops (lets have a laugh together). Truth is there is no such thing as a perfect parent.
Thankfully the dummy went first (around 18 months) and it had nothing to do with me. We suspect Connor either flushed it down the toilet or threw it out the window and the dogs got it. He had just had his tonsils and adenoids removed and grommets put in, he wasn’t really using it because it was causing discomfort. And while Connor was recovering, the days were quite a blur, the dummy vanished and that was the end of the dummy.
I was quite hard on him with the dummy, I think because I am a thumb sucker, although I will state in public that I used to be a thumb sucker, the truth is, I still find comfort in it (at 25 years old and a mother) when I’m having a bad day.
But then there was the bottle, and it was his comfort and I was cruel because I so desperately wanted him off the bottle, for his teeth and I thought it would create a path for him to start sleeping through (Another laughing session here) .
So one evening, before his 3rd Birthday, a monkey sneeked into the house and stole his bed time bottle and ran off with it.
It was quite heartbreaking to deal with his sad response and facial expressions, I almost wanted to go into the cupboard and say “surprise I found it“.
We told him the monkey took it for his baby and he was a big boy now.
And that was the end of it, he didn’t really cry for the bottle or perform like I thought he was going. He doesn’t forget though, and often brings it up at the site of a monkey.
He was ready though, because he was biting through the teats and I had already replaced the bottle twice, I couldn’t bring myself to do it again. Perhaps that makes me a selfish mom but I think I did the best thing for my boy.
He still wakes some nights and sleeps quite restlessly.
And he still has his chamomile tea in his sippy cup before bed, which means he is not longer sleeping with the teat in his mouth.
He still wakes for water during the night from the sippy cup
But we are officially bottle and dummy free.
Do what’s best for you and your kids, don’t worry about the judgmental mom, giving you eyeballs from across the mall because your child is having a melt down in the trolley or because your child is walking around with a dummy in their mouth.
YOUR child, YOUR rules, YOU are the one raising them.
Motherhood is hard enough, but you get woman that look down on other mothers, that think they are better. Please, hold up. You are the best mom to your child, your neighbor is the best mother to her kids.
I want to be the mom that gives the reassuring smile to the stressed out parent in the mall, who is dragging their kids along the floor because they refuse to walk, or whose kids has vomited into isle while the mom is busy paying for the groceries (that’s been me once), or who kid is screaming at the top of their voice for a sweet and the mother is trying her best to stay calm.
I want to be the mom that smiles at her as if to say “Its okay, I know how you feel”
I’ve done it before and I want to try my best to continue doing it. I’ve judged, we have all judged someone else, more than once, But I don’t want to be that person.
Lets stand united and build each-other up, instead of knocking each other down.
P.S. I have that number for the monkey if you want him to come pay a visit at your house. hahaha
What crazy things have you done to get your child/children off certain things?
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