Reality Comes To Live With My Sister

[becka]

I don't know if many of you remember me posting about my younger sister and the many crazy things she does but I have been (probably not too nicely) laughing at her behind her back over the fact that reality is definitely (finally) biting her in the.... lets just say....rear!

My sister had a baby girl just 4 1/2 months after I had DS. I recall pretty vividly some of the coversations that my sister and I had while she was pregnant. I remember being lectured on the evils of disposable diapers, etc. but most of all I remember being lectured on the evils of commercialization. She thought that I was doing a great disservice to DS by using Disney Babies for a nursery theme and (gasp!) buying him Mickey Mouse and Pooh toys, etc. and wanting to take him to WDW. Her precious little girl (she really is precious) would have no reason to watch the horrors of regular TV or experience the sick commercialization of a place like WDW. No! They were going to Europe to travel and TV would be limited to documentaries.

Well my niece is now 5 months old and while her nursery theme is in fact non-commercial in nature everything else she said is out the window. A cloth diaper has never even come NEAR that child and my sister's request for an Easter gift from my Mom? A SpongeBob DVD!!!! I guess SpongeBob doesn't count as commercial. Is there a SpongeBob documentary? Apparently if they put her in from of the TV when SpongeBob is on she doesn't cry and it keeps her entertained! The horrors!

Of course she will never dream of telling me that she was wrong but I am still getting some kind of perverse pleasure out of it! Maybe she will even let me take Katie to WDW with us when she is older!

 

[bsnyder]

LOL, Becka! That is too funny!

The bigger the talk, the harder the fall!

 

[Beanie]

Too funny, Becka!! I always love it when my friends tell me, "Oh I am going to use cloth diapers when I have a kid"...I always think, "Um, yeah, sure..you say that now because you DON'T have a kid"!!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

yeah Becka - I'm one of those. I was a perfect parent and knew everything there was to know about raising kids ---- before I had kids! :lol :lol :lol


Now when somebody starts in on me like that I feel like saying "Make it through one night of Colic and then we'll talk!"

 

[doxdogy]

Reminds me of when my SIL was pregnant with my nephew. She informed DH and I that there was no way her child would be put in a playpen. She didn't think a playpen was necessary. She didn't think it was that difficult to keep tabs on them all the time. Of course, DH and I just looked at each other and grinned. Nephew is born and he starts to crawl. Soon after, we get a phone call from her asking if she could borrow the playpen for the him. It seems that she realized that it was needed and that she couldn't keep her eyes on him constantly.

 

[caitycaity]

Is there a SpongeBob documentary?

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

We all know how perfect we would be as parents until our little angels arrive.

There were days that I swear I would have let my kids play in traffic with knives if I could have gotten an hour of peace...Spongebob seems pretty mild in comparison!

 

[binny]

hee hee hee I have an SIL like that too.. I just nod my head and say " Ok.. uh huh.. good for you" LOL


Oh well if she ever does get to have a baby Ill just sit back and watch.

 

[FergieTCat]

I have a friend who's a musician and he swore up and down that his kids would only be exposed to classical music, and/or their dad's compositions. Maybe a little Elton John thrown in (Kelly is a piano player).

The first time I visited, Barney was playing on the TV. Apparently, Devin liked Barney, and by god, it kept him quiet!! And Kelly had figured out the chord progression of "I love you, you love me ..."

Nothing like a good laugh at the expense of others, I always say!

 

[Serena]

My sister was one of those that knew everything there was to know about raising kids and how she would discipline them and everything, until she had kids.

Some how, after she had her twins, her attitude changed. She called me for advice allll the time. lol

 

[Keli]

LOL, The best parents are always those folks that don't have any kids. It's funny how a little sleep deprivation, empty stomach, unwashed body, janglely nerves, dirty laundry piled to the ceiling, and the knowledge that someone will be coming over in a couple of hours can cause you to alter many grand parenting ideas.

 

[goofygirl]

Yeah, when some people have kids, they sell their ideas and passions and principles RIGHT DOWN THE RIVER!

How can they throw their ideas out the window like that?

I think its sad, actually.

 

[becka]

GG - See if you knew my sister it would be funny because she never really had any principles about these things to begin with. It is just my sister being my sister.

My sister has always just looked for ways to criticize whatever I was doing. She always gave me a hard time about going to WDW and buying Disney items because it was commercialized but then she will only buy name-brand stuff for herself, etc..

My sister only had a baby because I was having one. She never wanted kids - in fact she reminds me a lot of you - but she was jealous that my parents were so thrilled at the prospect of their first grandchild and had a DH that wanted kids so she gave in. She took a leave of absence from law school to have my niece and planned on taking a semester off and staying home with her. She hated being a Mom so much that she decided to find a job (any job) that would pay enough to put her daughter in full-time day care so that she would not have to do very much for her. Her husband is in charge of my niece on weeknights and weekends. When her husband is away on business trips she always ends up at my parents house so she has plenty of 'help'.

That situation with my niece is just sad and I feel bad for all of them. Thankfully my BIL is a pretty good guy and my parents are very close by and they all love her a great deal. My sister tries at times to maybe think about being a Mom but I don't think she is going to change overnight. She thinks it might be better when my niece is 2.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

My brother in law was like that about Disney. He could never understand how we can let our girls watch Disney movies (or how we can go to Disney.)

Then he had two girls of his own. His wife just rolls her eyes now. Of course they have Disney movies. (But they have yet to make it to the parks.

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by goofygirl
Yeah, when some people have kids, they sell their ideas and passions and principles RIGHT DOWN THE RIVER!

How can they throw their ideas out the window like that?

I think its sad, actually.

Gee, thanks for that addition to the thread!

 

[cinlee3]

My brother is like that too. He would brag about how they would go to Florida only to see my grandparents and they would never go to WDW. Well now his precious little daughter is asking to go to WDW to see the princesses and of course they are going to take her next summer.

They never watch TV (yeah, sure) but the have surround sound, and a big screen TV (for PBS, right )

The latest with him is his son isn't going to get his drivers license until he is 18. He couldn't believe I let my son drive at 16. Hey the license was for me so I could quite carting him everywhere.

I just love watching him eat all his words.

 

[SilverLily]

Originally posted by goofygirl
Yeah, when some people have kids, they sell their ideas and passions and principles RIGHT DOWN THE RIVER!

How can they throw their ideas out the window like that?

I think its sad, actually.

GG was so excited about another chance to bash parenting, she opened her mouth before she knew all of the facts.

Hey GG...just a little life lesson...sometimes people have very unrealistic expectations, and sometimes people are hypocritical about many things in their life before they have kids...which is why the are like that AFTER they have kids also.

So you see - having kids didn't change becka's sister at all. Sounds like she stayed exactly the same!

 

[becka]

Originally posted by SilverLily
GG was so excited about another chance to bash parenting, she opened her mouth before she knew all of the facts.

I am not so sure it was just another chance to bash parenting so much as it was just another chance to bash me.

 

[SilverLily]

You may be right, becka.

And I find THAT to be really sad.

 

[becka]

The sad thing is that I, because I know my sister's situation quite well, probably understand and respect GG's reasons for remaining childfree more than other people. I don't understand her hatred for parents but I understand completely why she feels that not all people are cut out to be parents.

However, because I choose to become a parent, I am automatically part of an establishment that hates the childfree and is trying to force children onto people who do not want them. I became the enemy because I love being a Mom to my son.....