Say Ahhhh...

Sometimes words can have an off flavor...especially when you're having to eat them.

Oh yes, I am one of THOSE mothers who has had to learn the hard way to never say "never". I will be the first to admit that my own opinions and ideas have come back to haunt me quite frequently on this journey called life. It all started back in the early days of my guy and I. We were both very convinced that we were never getting married and we were definitely NEVER having kids.

Hah.

Hah. Hah.

Of course after about seven years of dating the idea of getting married became intriguing to us so there went preconceived notion number 1. Not long after getting married we decided that maybe having kids wasn't such a bad deal either...and there went preconceived notion number 2. We had gone ahead and broken all of our rules, but of course it didn't stop there. Let's see if I can do a recap of how its gone since then:

"I'm never eating junk food while pregnant."
Foot long Subway sandwiches, Cheetos and diet coke became my staple diet throughout both pregnancies along with massive amounts of coffee...
"I'm going to have my baby au natural...no drugs."
I signed up for the epidural after about three hours of labor...
"I'm never using formula."
My son quit nursing on me cold turkey at 8 months and lo and behold he loved formula...
"My kids are never having sugar."
Oh, does this even remotely deserve a response? What the heck was I thinking saying this anyways???
"My kids are never watching t.v."
Again...what????

Bottom line is, I've learned that absolutes and parenting do not really go hand in hand because it's just not a black and white type of science. Instead a life with kids is full of "gray" areas where you have to constantly re-evaluate your stance on certain topics. For instance, every birth is a personal and unique affair where the goal is just to get the kid out. A healthy baby is all that matters, not how you went about it. Breast milk and formula are only types of nourishment and different babies need different types of food. T.V can serve its purpose but in small supervised doses. And I will never be able to tell my kid that they can't have that slice of birthday cake because it is laden with sugar.

Moderation must be the key.

So as I sit and type this with Sponge Bob Square Pants playing in the background I realize that I am thankful for these opportunities to revisit my words of the past. It is fun to look back and see how different my point of view is from the younger and more naive me. I also don't doubt that there will be more instances in the future where I'll get the chance to again taste the flavor of my words.

Bitter and sweet...I will welcome them all.