Thursday, August 30, 2007

Parents pressure


Started to wean Oliver a bit so he is not completely on breastmilk - I figured it would be better to get him used to this before introducing solids, and guess what.... he's a muuuch more happier baby now, more content, less grumpy, naps are even better. I feel sad thinking that he must have been hungry (well maybe not exactly hungry, just not quite enough) all this time.

On that note though, I still am not very excited about the idea of solids. I know we have to do it sooner rather than later (he is turning 6 months old in about a week), but to think about the mess, the extra work, extra effort to introduce it to him... mmpppph (blowing raspberry like Oliver's new skill) it sounds soo complicated and I'd love to keep it this simple (although still not as simple as just giving breastmilk) for as long as I could!!!

Oooh.. the pressure of being a mother, the pressure of trying to give the best for your child. Yesterday Scott showed me a picture of this couple's baby looked happy and was having so much fun in a kindergym session. Hang on... What is it? Why is our baby not doing it? Does this mean that I didn't "help (your) child to maximize their learning potential ' since "the activities at the centre are not designed to speed up development but are to ensure that each baby/child gains full benefit from each developmental stage" (according to the website)? But we were already planning to enroll him to a swimming school and in my BC (Before Child) years, I promised I was not going to bombard my child with so many extra curricular that he probably would not enjoy anyway -but here I am considering doing everything at the same time and he's not even 6 months old yet.

Is this parents pressure - to make sure that your baby can have 'the best start in life'? Before I had a child I thought some parents just trying to get their children to do what they (the parents) want them to do, not what the children really want to do, but now I actually get it - you are doing it for your child. You are actually worried that you are not giving them enough learning experience, you are worried that they might be an outcast if they didn't do what the others did, that their developments might be behind other kids, in the nutshell - "not giving them the best start in life".

Question is: Is it true? Is it worth it? Is it really necessary or is it really there is a time for everything?

Anyway - too much thinking. My head is spinning.

1 comment:

Pangeran Panda said...

Hmm you kind of remind me how bad I felt when my Mom ask me to go for Piano lessons :) ..

The end result? I still can't play any single tone, I guess the talent is just not there :) ..