As I have mentioned before, I tend to be a worrier. With that, comes the difficulty in saying no. I'm often obliging, even when I don't want to be. Saying yes, or nothing at all, because I don't have a good reason for saying no. Feeling I need to explain myself and my decisions to others, I will keep my thoughts and opinions to myself, because I worry that if I speak, they won't be my friends anymore. One truth I need to embrace is, I don't owe anyone an explanation and my thoughts and feelings are just as valuable as others.
No, I don't agree with you on so many things.
I don't agree parents should be required to vaccinate their children or keep them locked away from the public.
No, I don't think other people's medical history is any of our business, whether it has to do with vaccinating, birthing, or anything else.
No, I don't think it is our place to tell another person all the ways they are failing as a parent, or person, for not doing things our way.
Same goes for how they live. So what if someone eats fast food or only organic and you don't. Homeschools and you don't. Etc...
It often seems to me that people are so twisted up about how their way is the only way, (in which case, why is it so hard to believe Jesus is the only way?), and instead of enjoying the beauty of life and relationships, they are bent on trying to conform everyone else to their way.
I'm tired of extremism. I don't care which side of the issue you are on, it is ridiculous, intolerant, close minded, and ignorant and quite honestly I'm a bit surprised by how many extremists I know. Let people live and stay out of their business. We can't and shouldn't try to control everything about everyone else's lives. We also shouldn't expect everyone else to think, believe, feel, or live as we do, all the time. It is not the person who disagrees with us that is the problem, if we can't handle their equal right to have individual thoughts and opinions, it is ours. Our job is to LOVE one another not control one another.
The truth is, we all have our "things". Those things we feel adamant and passionate about, but not everyone shares that with us. That doesn't make them a bad, uneducated, fear-mongering, person. It only means, they have different priorities and perspectives than we do. And that is O.K.!!
When I was a young parent, I was also told how to feed, bathe, and dress my first born son. I was discouraged to breast feed by many because it wasn't acceptable at the time, the hospital fed him bottles of sugar water, I had no say in that. I was told to put him to sleep on his stomach and to wake him every 4 hours to feed him or he would starve. Don't nurse the baby in bed or I'd smother him to death.
ReplyDeleteI chose to do things my way, which just caused people to talk.
Second son arrived years later, I was told it was ok to breast feed, and this time, they said babies should sleep on their backs. I let him sleep through the night, which caused uproar. Again, I ignored their complaints.
Third son, same thing, except then they thought babies should sleep on their side. Not as many complaints, or I just learned to ignore them better.
Yep I was the worlds worst mother, nothing I did was right. I still hear complaints, usually made up ones. Somehow my kids managed to survive to adulthood. They grew up to be very healthy, no allergies, no awful diseases.
So do what you choose to do. We all have opinions, I do too, but you never hear them because my opinions don't matter. You and PJ will raise your kids your own way, just as I did. People will say whatever they want. Let them. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter.