"That's no way to raise a man!"

[Erinoir]

My grandparents recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We had a big party/reception for them and I believe that they had a great time. Of course, I needed to bring their first great-grandchild, nine month old Simon, to the celebration, which I was happy to do.

However, this celebration brought out a lot of people, most who were my age in the '50s and early '60s, and put them on a collision course with me. Some notable conversations happened, which I would like to share with all of you.

The one referenced in the title of this post was spoken by my great uncle Jerry, from Tennessee. I was sitting away from most of the other people, breastfeeding Simon. Jerry boiled over and said, "You're still feeding him from your...", gesturing uncomfortably at his chest, "...that's no way to raise a man!"
Somewhat shocked, I stuttered "...but he's a baby."
Jerry curtly replied "And he always will be thanks to you," and stormed off.

That was one of those moments where I wish I could be as clever as Doctor Who, defeating enemies by making them feel bad about what they are doing.

The next situations happened when I was carrying Simon in a sling. There's not a unique conversation that stands out in my mind, but here are some quotes:
"Why don't you just put him down?"
"He's never going to walk if you keep carrying him."
"You're spoiling him."
Wait, I was mistaken. One quote does stand out in my mind, again from uncle Jerry, "You should let him come to Tennessee with me. Give me a week and I'll make a man out of him."

Ok, one more and then you'll be free to tell me your thoughts. Cousins of my grandfather, who were mostly polite but obviously uncomfortable about my previous antics, asked me if Simon watched any kids shows. I started to say something about Baby Einstein and they nodded approvingly, saying that their grandchild now loved Vivaldi. I then broke rapport with them with this sentence: "He also likes Sesame Street - especially Elmo."
"Oh, you've got to be careful with Sesame Street," he said, "their message is not always right." (emphasis his, not mine)
Again, I was not up to snuff in dealing out clever responses, so I said, "Uh....I guess you've got to be careful with anything..." and wandered off, muttering something about changing Simon's diaper.

So...are you laughing? Outraged? Think I'm whining? Tell me here or here!

[elleinad]

Dec. 21, 2007 at 11:27 PM I think I look at a lot of 30 and 40 year olds that these people raised and think to myself -- why on earth are you people thinking you are in any position to give advice?

[Bellalicious]

Dec. 21, 2007 at 11:31 PM

I think it sounds like whining. Just my opinion, but it seems to me, everyone has their own opinion....obviously you just stated yours. Just take it as someone trying to make a conversation with you. For gosh sakes, the man obviously was raised in a different era, so I think you should cut him some slack, and just " grin and bear it " if you will.

 Ps...Your uncle being from Tennessee, has nothing to do with his outlandish comments. You have those in EVERY state. : )

[amor41705]

Dec. 21, 2007 at 11:31 PM i think those ppl u were around r weird! what the heck are they talking about? he's a baby. not a man, or whatever. and im pretty sure ur baby can't walk yet, can he? i guess when we get older we lose our minds?

[MizzDee]

Dec. 21, 2007 at 11:57 PM

You know, my 7 year old now tells me to get back in the house before the bus comes so that the other kids don't see me in my pj's and winter coat.  She won't let me fix her hair anymore.  She gives herself a bath now.  She has her own little circle of friends and private jokes.  If I could do it over, I would have held her more and worked less.  I would have cuddled and fed her however I wanted to and let the house go to hell.  I would have just cherished that time more.  I guess what I'm getting at is this: feed them and cuddle them and love them all you can...the next thing you know, he'll be telling you to drop him off far from the school doors and won't let you kiss him in front of his friends.  As long as you are living a life of character and you recognize that breastfeeding is best, then screw Uncle Tennessee (no disrespect intended, Bellalicious! :)) and anyone else who has something nasty to say.  God bless you and Merry Christmas!