So This Happened...

I've had an old lady steal things out of my cart because she didn't know where the tapioca pudding was kept, and I could just go get another box.

Once, I was handed a pot of flowers from Elvis, who was standing next to the display of bananas. 

There was also that crazy chick who yelled at me and Erica about getting our kids some Halloween costumes for our kids at Walgreens, as we were walking to the Shoppette. 

I am no stranger to having weird things happen to me. (Ask any of my former co-workers about that time I sliced my neck open with the helium tank or the time I burned my throat with some hot chocolate and couldn't speak for two days.) 

However.

I will never get used to having people openly state their disapproval of my parenting choices, when I don't know them from Adam. We're not talking about those glances that scream "man those are some bad little kids", but verbal comments on choices that in no way, shape, or form affect them. There was a lady a few weeks ago who swore up and down that my child would never nurse if I let him use a pacifier. (Try again. He use a pacifier for almost a month before he learned how to nurse, or even use a bottle.) I kind of see where she is coming from. I might recommend to a friend that if they are having trouble nursing to forgo the use of a paci, but the difference is, it would be someone I have actual met before. Someone that I cared about. And I would tell them that ONLY if they asked for my advice. (Which, please don't. I don't have a clue as to what I am doing.)

There was another incident last weekend that really takes the cake thus far. 

Since Zander opted to skip the line when God was handing out patience and joined our family nine weeks early, he needs milk that has a few more calories than normal in order to help him grow. We don't want him using all his calories up trying to ingest said calories. In the hospital, this was achieved by adding a human milk fortifier to his expressed breast milk. That same fortifier is also acidic, and for a while, was causing the poor baby to have a really bad diaper rash. I probably could have continued using this same product after we brought him home, but the cost is absolutely ridiculous, and there is a more feasible option. 

A baby formula specifically designed for preemies. It already comes with 22 calories in it. So we have continued to add the formula to expressed milk, and the dude is fat, healthy, and happy. 

I ran out of formula last weekend, and as I was grabbing a can of it off the shelf, a lady I have never met before took it upon herself to inform me that breast feeding is best for infants. 

As calmly and as quickly as I could, I explained that I am fully aware of the benefits of breastfeeding, and that is actually how I choose to feed my son. I went on to explain that Zander was born early, and that we had to use this special "PREEMIE" formula in a few bottles a day to insure that he continues to thrive and be healthy. I then asked her to please be more observant the next time she wants to judge someone for a decision that is essentially none of her business. 

It really was all I could do to keep myself from punching her in the throat. I'm trying to keep my mischief making to a minimum since Paul is deployed and I am fairly sure his boss doesn't want to have to come pick me up from the Polizei. 

Can we knock off the Mommy Wars? I pinky promise I will never ever speak to you again, if you do the same!