Mom-Shaming, How is That Even a Thing?

February 8, 2018February 20, 2018 / Katie Cunningham / 5 Comments

This is probably more of a venting post for me, but I want my opinion to be heard on this because I’ve been seeing a lot of it lately and my main question is

What’s the freakin’ point of it?!

It’s mind blowing to think that mom-shaming is actually a thing in today’s world. Last time I checked, we are all in this together and we all have one goal, to raise our children to be sweet, respectful, successful teenagers and adults. The way that mothers actually put forth an effort to let down other mothers these days is disgusting and frustrating to say the least. What makes you think you’re better than any other mother? Well guess what, you’re not.

Whether you decide to breast feed or formula feed, co-sleep or strictly put them in their crib, work full time or stay at home, have a cesarean birth or natural birth, send your child to daycare or keeping them home, feed them strictly organic food or McDonald’s Happy Meals. WHO CARES.

Why should any other mothers parenting style affect you enough to make nasty comments about it? You would think the maturity of a mother would be above that. We should be supporting each other and learning from each other, not bashing others and trying to be the better mom. Your child will always think you are the best mom out there, because you are their only mom, you’re the one who loves them more than life itself.

I recently had a remark made about my children’s Valentine’s Day photo preview.

“Why wouldn’t you put shoes on your child for their photos”

Hmm, well you know what, maybe my child doesn’t enjoy wearing shoes or considering that I know my child more than anyone else especially another mom-shamer, I know she would just constantly mess with her shoes and I wouldn’t get a good photo out of her. She is ONE, and she looks cute as hell with or without shoes on. If it bothers you that much, that you must go out of your way to comment about it, WHY LOOK. It’s freaking shoes ya’ll, SHOES! Do you seriously have that much time to analyze my photo’s that much? Ignore it, and go about your day worrying about more important things, or at least say something positive!

(In case you all were wondering how “ridiculous” my child looks barefoot)

The difference is with mom-shamers and the actual mother is we know our children and our everyday lifestyle, quite well actually. (super shocking huh?!)

You just think you know our children and lifestyle.

I am so fed up with other mothers who think it’s okay to go out of their way to criticize someone else’s child just to make them look better. Or attempt to put down another mom, and assume they don’t know what they’re talking about just because their entire life isn’t posted on social media for attention. How could you even go about your day happily knowing you were throwing negative comments out about an innocent CHILD.

How do you even have the time for it?

My life is crazy with two kiddos, bless your heart.

Does it seriously make you feel like a better mother when you shame another mom while hiding behind a computer screen? Do you think it makes your children look better? Do you think it makes you look better? Please tell me, I’d LOVE to know the point of mom-shaming. Because in my eyes, it’s a pathetic, selfless way or showing you are insecure about your own self.

To all of you mothers out there throwing kindness around like glitter to all of us other mama’s trying our hardest each and every day, you’re the real MVP. That’s how grown, mature, adult mothers should be living their lives. Sometimes a confidence boost is what a mother needs during a stressful day, even if it’s different from your parenting style. It’s incredible the amount of criticism I see today on social media. I’ve witnessed it personally and I’ve seen it given to other mothers.

We’ve all made mistakes, we’ve all done things we regret, we’ve all wished we could have changed something, and I’m damn sure we’ve all had made comments about other parenting styles while at the playground or walking around the mall, I’m guilty of it, but the biggest thing about it is KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. It doesn’t make you look any better as a mother or human being by expressing your negative comments, if anything it makes you look like a damn fool, and hiding behind a computer screen, making nasty comments doesn’t make it any better than criticizing someone in person. It’s a shame.

#EndRant

#SorryNotSorry

#SayNoToMomShaming

The Last Month of Being Our Baby

January 6, 2018 / Katie Cunningham / Leave a comment

11 Months.

Our little girl is just a month away from being ONE. I was looking on Timehop this morning of videos of her wiggling and hiccuping in my belly. I thought she’d never make her arrival. I was so impatient when it came to waiting for her birth day to come. And now it’s here, the last month of her as a baby. Let the countdown to ONE begin!

Liliana is my wild child. She’s the most loving little human, yet her sass and determination are strong. No matter what it is she wants, she goes for it. She’ll fall over, bump her head, get right back up and keep going. She’s a tough one. She also has that girly girl sass going on also. If something doesn’t go her way, you’ll know it. Those arms go flying and that screechy yell comes out (she might get all that sassiness from me, lol). She always thinks she’s going to miss something, so naps are rare with her. She keeps going and going until bed time, even that’s a struggle. My mother got her wish when she said “I hope you have a child who was just like you when you were younger”. Touché mom. I get it now. I was definitely a crazy one. Thank goodness car seats are more advanced now because that was my specialty, getting out of my car seat while my mother was driving.

Now for Liliana’s milestones… she’s killing it. She has her six teeth still. It was like all six came in at one time then they decided to take a break. She can now say Mama, Dada, Pop, Yes, Hi, Buh Bye, Uh Oh, Ke-Ke, & Rip (the last two are our pups, Keo and Ripken). She is standing on her own for short periods of time and her crawling is more like a speed crawl. She claps and copies everything her brother does. She’s always dancing. She loves her table food, yet she’s still teeny as ever. I wish I knew where it all went. I’m also starting to think she’s double jointed like me, because she bends all kinds of different ways. Gymnastics here we come!

This next month is going to be full of party planning and preparation. I don’t want to believe she’s already going to be one, but I’m so excited for the adventures ahead. Her personality is incredible. She’s definitely an extrovert, she’s going to be an outgoing one. I enjoy watching this little girly girl grow!

Follow me on Instagram for all the party planning and countdown to one, @katiecunni Follow the hashtag #LilianaMarieTurnsONE

One Successful Christmas

December 26, 2017December 26, 2017 / Katie Cunningham / Leave a comment

Another Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye. With all the stress and anxiety finally over, it was all worth it. My babies were in all their glory on Christmas morning. Of course, with me being that ‘crazy’ mom, I spent about fifteen minutes figuring out the perfect way to sit the presents under the tree. I don’t lie when I say my husband probably thinks I’m crazy. We obviously knew they would just get torn open in the morning. But that’s what this Momma does. That’s what make me feel satisfied. I went through all the madness of shopping and wrapping. You better believe they will get laid just perfectly.

Funny thing with yesterday morning was my husband, the kids grandparents, and I were up before both the kids. Around 7:30-8 we decided to finally wake them up because I couldn’t wait any longer. I never thought watching your kids open presents on Christmas morning would be more enjoyable then when you actually received all the gifts. Seeing my kids faces light up when then opened their gifts not only gave me a sigh of relief because they were so happy, but I sat there thinking “Yup, I did that, I made my kids that happy”. I tell you, it’s one good feeling.

Of course Liliana wasn’t understanding the whole ‘Santa came’ thing this year, but she definitely enjoyed tearing up some paper and seeing her toys. Kyle on the other hand was absolutely hilarious. Just about every gift he tore open was followed by a “Whaaaaaat no way, mom look as this” or “Mom! Santa did good”. I really need to start recording his reactions so when he’s older I can embarrass him to his friends and girlfriends (I’m totally going to be that mom). One moment that truly melted my heart was that Kyle was willing to take time to help his little sister. He handed her presents, helped her open them, and showed her all of her gifts. It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever witnessed.

One thing I’ve learned about Christmas Day is don’t forget to have batteries! I’m so relieved we had plenty this year so all the toys were able to work properly. I forgot them last year and that was a total mom fail. Within the course of an hour after gift opening, Kyle had about 80% of his gifts up and running. I’m pretty sure my fingers are about to fall off from all the twisting, snapping, and box opening I was doing. But that’s what motherhood is all about, exhausting yourself so your kids are happy. With all the gift hiding, traveling, and eating terribly I’m ready to get back on track for the new year. I’m already excited for next year though.

I hope yours was just as great as mine was!

Little White Lies We Tell Our Kids

December 23, 2017February 22, 2018 / Katie Cunningham / Leave a comment

Happy Saturday Ya’ll!

It’s no secret that us mothers tell some little white lies to our children. Sometimes it’s needed so we can avoid the tears and temper tantrums. I was out the other night and I started chatting with another mom about what us mothers fib about to keep things from our children. We were laughing for a good twenty minutes about it so I thought I’d share some to pass along. Some of these are honestly quite clever and I might start using some myself.

Whenever my child wants some of my drink or snack, I tell him there is coffee in it. After that, he wants nothing to do with it
Take a battery out of an annoyingly loud toy and tell them the toy is “taking a nap”
Tell them you’re going “Number 2” so you can sit in the bathroom alone for 10 extra minutes (who hasn’t done this. Fathers included!)
When you sneak a piece of candy and they ask what it is, tell them it’s spinach or that it’s spicy
When you throw away some artwork, I tell my son they are going to the garbage men to hang up in their trucks
When you throw away a toy and they ask where it is, tell them you sent it to Santa’s elves to fix
If they touch any of the ornaments on the Christmas tree, it will take away the magic and Santa won’t come
If their small pet dies, tell them they went to visit their animal parents
If they lie, a red dot shows up on their forehead that only mommy and daddy can see
The ice cream truck only plays music when it’s out of ice cream
If my kid doesn’t behave in the drive-thru he will get a Sad Meal
If they swallow their gum, bubbles will blow out of their butt
If they unbuckle their seat belt in the car it will roll over
If you carry them, their legs won’t grow
Tell them they have a long-lost brother you dropped off at a gas station because they were being too loud in the car
If they want to hear a song again, tell them the singer needs to rest their voice or they won’t be able to sing that song anymore
If they don’t eat their vegetables, their birthday won’t come
If they don’t sit still during a haircut, the barber will cut their ear off
Tell them they need to keep an eye on you at all times while in the store so you don’t get kidnapped (no more wandering for them!)
If they start whining, you’ll have to take them to the doctors to get a shot to dry their tears

Some of these are genius and I would have never thought of some of these myself. What are your secrets? I’d love to hear!

Ten Months of Sassiness

December 6, 2017December 6, 2017 / Katie Cunningham / Leave a comment

My baby is ten months ya’ll! Why is it so much harder to accept a double digit month then a single digit one!? Actually, why do our babies have to grow up so fast in general?! I can’t handle it. My baby fever is going to be coming back soon. I guess that calls for baby number three 😉

If anyone reading this has met my little Liliana, you’ll know she’s a little firecracker. She’s my little sour patch kid. She’ll do something mean, then snuggle you to make you feel better. Her personality is hilarious, maybe one of the very few things she’ll get from me. Except her father is pretty humorous himself, one of the reasons I fell in love with him. She is a spitting image of her daddy. The only thing she got from me is her eyes (which is what she gets the most compliments on anyway, lol).

While my son has more of a sensitive side, she’s tough. Her father is already talking about buying her boxing gloves and teaching her how to throw a punch. Just the other day, she hit her forehead on the hard floor and didn’t make a peep. She looked at me for a second, I told her she was good, and she went about her playing. The only time she cries is when she’s hungry and doesn’t want to nap.

The funny thing is with her being so tough, she’s my teeny little thing too. Tiny and fierce. Complete opposite from her brother, who I think is constantly growing. She’s my little 15 pound princess at 10 months! When she was born she was 6lbs 15oz, which was actually heavier then her brother, but they are definitely opposite. To this day she still fits in 6 months clothes. She still swims in 9 months. But hey, I can’t complain, she isn’t constantly growing out of clothes and she is developing perfectly! Plus she’s a little piggy, so I don’t know where the weight goes.

She’s now waving and saying “Hi” and “Buh Bye”, she has “Mama” and “Dada” down. She’s just about standing on her own. She loves to dance and play with her brother (Maroon 5 is a favorite of hers). She gets into EVERYTHING, of course. She has her diva moments for sure. When you put her somewhere she doesn’t want to be, the legs starts flying and the whining starts, and you bet she gets her way, every single time (especially from daddy, he’s wrapped around her finger). She will scream until she has someone’s attention, then when she does, she’ll just wave hi for a good minute. She smiles at everyone and makes sure she has a babbling conversation with everyone she sees.

She knows she’s spoiled. When it’s bedtime, she refuses to fall asleep on her own. She likes mommy or daddies arms. She’ll sit up in her rocker and try to have a full conversation with you in baby talk. It’s the funniest thing, I swear in her mind, I truly believe she honestly knows what she’s saying. She cracks us up. She knows how to hold her bottle, but would much rather prefer if mommy holds it so she can play with her hair. She’s too cool to sit in a shopping cart regularly. She has to stand and see what’s going on. She’s seriously a sassy one.

My girl refuses to nap. She always has to know what’s going on. She thinks she’s going to miss something. She also gives the best open mouthed slobber kisses. I love every single one of them! She’s the best daughter and little sister we could ask for. Sometimes I can’t help but brag a little.

She’s going to be a handful when she’s older. I hope daddy is ready. I can see it now, she’s going to want the car all the time. She’s going to want to always go out with her friends. She’s going to break curfew, she’s going to ask for money to go shopping. She’s going to be just like mommy was, hehe. That’s why I’m preparing my husband now, giving him fair warning that I was a wild one, so she might be too.

All I know is when she’s a teenager (and this goes for my son too), she’s going to be raised right to where she knows right from wrong. Exactly how her father and I were raised. I knew my limits. I knew if I did something wrong, my parents would beat my ass. You bet we’re going to do the same, to both kids. My kids will know discipline and respect. No doubt in my mind they will treat others the way they want to be treated.

But seriously though, I can’t even think about the teenage years yet. I want to keep them little forever! Soon enough she’ll be one, so I’m cherishing each month as it comes. Come to think about it, I need to start planning her birthday party. Of course it’s themed, but I’ll keep that a secret right now.

Happy 10 Months Liliana Marie.

Cunningham Chronicles

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