I have to admit I heard the phrase "Ignore the Advice of the Well-Meaning Idiots" on one of my favorite shows The Real Housewives of New York City, and thought to myself how many different situations that phrase applies to! I think that this phrase is valid more in raising a child than in any other situation. How many times does someone come up to a relative stranger and give their "invaluable" advice just because you happen to have a child with you? The most recent situation in which I encountered this was when I posted a picture of Parker in a sling on Facebook - the people came out of the woodwork! I was a bit surprised at how many people messaged me or called me to ask if I had heard about the sling recall. Do I live in a hole? No, I had heard. And of course, no - our sling was not part of the recall. We were given one of the fancy hippiesh slings from my friend Whitney that have all the great sling benefits like putting your kid right to sleep when they get all snuggled in there. I completely recognize the loving and concerned thoughts of all of those people who brought the recall to my attention, but I couldn't help but smile every time I got a new message or call.
Adding to the sentiment of today's blog title was the most impressive "well-meaning idiot" advice I have received yet which came from the nice handyman from military housing who came to fix our kitchen sink. When he asked if Parker was "sleeping though the night yet" I told him we can go on 3-4 hour stretches so far. His response was: "Have you put cereal in his bottle"...well, no Mr. Handyman, first Parker doesn't take bottles and it would be hard to administer cereal via the "avenue" he currently receives food, and second he is not even 6 weeks old! When I told him how young Parker was he informed me that his kids were having cereal from just a few weeks mixed in their bottles and they slept great. Well, thanks, I will keep that in mind, but I think it might be a bit early....Well-meaning indeed...
Unfortunately, or in the handyman's case, fortunately, that was the thing to do many years ago. Giving infants cereal right off the bat seems so, so....unreal? I don't know, but even now, things I was told compared to what you're told now seems so old fashioned. Sleep through the night at 6 weeks? NO! Start on solid foods at 8 weeks? NO! Well, just do what your doctor tells you and you'll be on the right track. BTW, cereal was introduced to breast fed babies at 6 months..that's how your dear friends, Chris and McKenna were raised.....FYI... ;p
ReplyDeleteOMG this was so funny! I can actually her the condescending tone in your voice saying "well, no Mr Handyman,..." And the part about administering cereal via the current "avenue" that he receives food made me about wet my pants.. Well done Moe!
ReplyDeleteLet's hear a round of acclause for Mrs. Culver! I agree with Jim, this was a very funny post about the abundance of unsolicited advice a new mommy is bound to receive. I laughed outloud...even snorted a bit.
ReplyDeleteEspecially the part about Mr. Handyman...
Could you imagine Mandy saying, "Why, no, Mr. Handyman I HADN'T heard that before...let me whip up some oatmeal right now and see how Parker likes it. Thank you SO MUCH!"
If only these people knew that you are our resident Research Expert...mostly on All Things Baby these days...