My sister... the sheep...

[Kenre]

Well, I love my little sister. She is one of my favorite sisters, actually. I have run to Hel and back for her time and time again.

There are a few things I don't like about her, though. She's deaf (uses a hearing aid and lip reads) and also illiterate. Now I love her for these qualities, but they can make her a little difficult to handle. She watches the news, follows her doctors blindly, and if someone says that it is the right thing to do concerning her kids she has no ability to research it on her own. This said, here are a few things I wish she would just find a DVD on and learn something about (My beliefs are in quotes. Hers are afterwards):

"Co-sleeping is a natural choice for parenting." Even though we co-slept in our family, she has come to "realize" that our mother had put us at "significant" risk. Well, according to what she heard, at least. She freaked out when she fell asleep in a rocking chair with her newborn daughter propped up on a boppy BFing one night (we were all there. The baby was safe.) She also claims that my kids will die if I continue to co-sleep with them (even though I have researched and we do it safely.)

"Vaccinations are a parents choice because of belief, research, or medical findings." A non-vaccinating parent wants to kill their children and all of the children they play with. They also aren't allowed to attend school. If a child misses even one shot from the recommended schedule then that child will get the disease of whatever they were supposed to be vaccinated against, and will also kill everyone else around them with it.

"Baby wearing is a wonderful way to bond with your baby. It isn't for everyone, but it is used all around the world as a way for traveling with your baby." If you hold your infant a lot they will become so attached to you you won't be able to get rid of them when they are adults. Your child will have issues with their self esteem. You are spoiling your new born.

"Cloth diapering is considered better for the environment, and it can be a wonderful thing on children with sensitive skin. It's not for everyone, but there are newer diapers now to make it more convenient." Disposables are easier, and she doesn't want to touch poop. She also hates doing laundry and would rather have bags of dirty disposables sitting in her kitchen than doing a load of laundry once or twice a week for diapers. She also complains when she has to walk her kids to the store to buy diapers, but doesn't see any reason to get cloth. She also says she doesn't want to pin her baby (which we don't use pins anymore. There are more things out there now.)

"Whatever your religious beliefs I hope you are happy. As long as you're happy, then you shouldn't care about other people's beliefs." If your not Christian, you're wrong. If your wrong, you're going to Hell. Why would anyone want to worship the Devil, anyway? (She claims all non-Christians, even Jewish people and Muslims, worship the Devil.)

"It would be wonderful to be a SAHM, but I understand that it's not for every mom and some just have to work." If you have kids and are a woman, than it is your duty to them to stay home with them. If you work outside the home, then you're a bad mom and shouldn't have had the kids to start with. (Also, daycare kill kids and babysitters molest children according to her.)

"Men have many functions in society. Some stay home with the kids; some work outside the house; and some are work at home dads. I know there can be bad seeds in every lot as well." Men have one function, to work and provide for their family. A woman shouldn't be working, and so a man has to take up the slack. If this means three jobs, then so be it. (We got into this when I told her DH would be going to college and I'd be working to supplement the income for the next year.)

"Homeschooling is a personal choice for parents. There are many reasons why a parent will choose to do this, and all of them are valid for that family." Home-schoolers are isolated, non-social, and clingy to their parents. They usually fall into depression when they first step out into the real world, and most suicides are from homeschooling kids (I have yet to find where she got that "fact" from). Home-schoolers cannot function in society, usually end up living their entire lives with mommy and daddy, and can't attend college because they don't have REAL school under them.

... Now as you can see she is very misinformed on some subjects. Usually I like talking to her for about 5 minutes. Then she starts in on something she saw on the news or someone told her about. Tonight it was vaccinations (Yes she watched Law and Order SVU). She wanted to know what vaccines DS was getting at his next appointment. When I informed her that we have stopped vaccinating him (and future kids) she threw a fit and started telling me that now her kids can't play with mine, and what is she going to tell her kids when their cousins die? I have tried numerous times to be polite, give her information on subjects (without trying to force her into anything. I would never do that), and just keep my temper. We had a whole two weeks of not talking to each other over a religious issue once, but we got over it. I do love her, and I think it's cruel that she is so much a sheep because of the news and TV. She can't read, so she can't do any research into anything. She takes everything told to her by doctors, so called friends, and the media that she thinks it's all true no matter what. Even when the media contradicts itself, she pretends (or actually believes) she was always on the side that is the most up to date.

I am going to try and find some not boring DVDs for her to watch on some of the subjects I listed above. I am not going to convince her of anything, but I want her to see BOTH sides of an issue. I just hate hearing that I am going to kill my kids because of some of the things I have researched and come to believe myself.

[MommaLucy]

May. 1, 2009 at 12:27 AM

I feel badly for your sister....following blindly like that will only hurt her in the end.

[logansmomma2007]

May. 1, 2009 at 6:23 PM

She definitely sounds set in her extreme ways.  It is tough when you have a sister you can't reason with.

My sister is kind of like that, but she doesn't argue with me though.  She just lurks on here and then sends me scripture and such about things I already know.  I think she thinks that I am going down the wrong path, when in fact I am just more liberal than her.  It is funny how some people can't open their minds and accept that maybe they don't have it all figured out.

[MeNEmma]

May. 18, 2009 at 11:14 PM

I'm not chomping off your head or your sisters i just want to inform you! I am 23 and i was homeschooled! i graduated high school at 14, started college aft14 and finished at 18!! so the homeschooling thing is crap. my daughter is 2 and she loves homeschooling now! she asks to do school every day and so she is also realy smart :)!! i'm sorry its hard for your sister to understand things!!! im sure it drives you crazy!! good mucl in teh future!!