Thursday, February 19, 2009

Things I don't understand

1. That apparently it's expected by a certain group of parents that you get "professional" photos of your child every three months until they're 1 and then every 6-12 months after. I take photos of X-man all the time, does this not count? I mean, it doesn't anger me that this happens. I just wondered how the concept of it became such a social norm. I had never heard of it before I became a parent.

2. Showers when they refer to parties. I'm reading the baby lists on Facebook and most moms had 2-3 showers for their first kid. I have been to two "baby showers." One as a guest and the other as a host. Both were pretty intimate. When I got married the folks at work threw something, but I refused to let them call it a shower because the whole thing freaked me out. Another colleague was getting married the month before and she was all into it. I just wanted to wander off and get married, have a vacation and then get back to work. She appeared to spend the three months before her wedding doing nothing but wedding planning while at work.

3. Competitive parenting. Seriously, this is some kind of race? I know a slew of parents who raise their children very differently than I raise mine. And I love them and their children. You do the best you can and work as hard as you can, and ultimately you have no control. I know it doesn't stop the guilt and the worry, but seriously, lay off each other.

4. Complaining about the time it takes to drive from one end of this town to the other. The whole area is like 9 miles by 5 miles. You can walk that. "All the way up there" is so crazy subjective now that gas isn't $4.10 a gallon. 

That's my list from today. These are things I've been thinking about for the last week... I thought some readers might have a better take on them than I do. 

8 comments:

Amy said...

I didn't get JB's picture taken with Santa this year and I felt so guilty. Like in 10 years he was going to come with me with tears in his eyes and ask why, oh why, I didn't have proof of him sitting on Santa's lap in 2008.

~rachel~ said...

1. We have NEVER gotten professional pics for either boy. We do occasionally set up some that looks "pro", but I have never gotten the point. I like outdoor pics and we have quite a few of Rowan that look really good- and will do w/ Eli when it's nice. We are way too cheap to spend $$ on something we can do ourselves!
2.I hate being the center of attention, so didn't want anything. I went to a baby shower where the couple (between 2 showers) will prob. never have to buy diapers for their baby and got everything from their registry(and they registered for EVERYTHING-even a potty chair!) I feel wrong that this makes me a little jealous :) Don't know why they say shower either.

I agree w/ the driving thing- I don't really feel like we are that out there, but everyone seems to think we are hours away-!

Quigs78 said...

1. Our "professional" pictures are from Wal-mart. And only at Christmas after PG was born. (Bubba's 1st Christmas pics I took myself.) The rest of the kids pics are ones that I take. I can get better reactions of them that way.

2. Showers are a family thing for us. I hate sitting in front of fifty people, opening presents, but I hate listening to fifty people bitch about not having a shower more.

4. I have become a HUGE complainer. I've become jaded after living here for a year. And, um, I so wouldn't walk that. I won't even drive it. :P

The Fearless Freak said...

1. With TB, we were given a coupon to a local place to get pictures done (3 months, 6 months and a year) and then at the end we were given a composite of all the shots. Plus we used to get Picture People coupons for a free sitting and a free 8x10 ALL THE TIME and I used those alot. So TB had a ton of professional pictures. By the time MT got here, PP had closed, the guy wasn't doing the coupon, all the freebies had dried up. I take their pictures a lot and now they are in school so I get professional pictures every year :)

2. I'm kind of a fan of the baby shower. Call it what you will, I'm not opposed to getting together with people I like and eating tasty food. The stupid games are like payment for the food :)

4. Uh, sorry about that. :) I grew up out of town and we drove 30-45 minutes (depending on where we were going) to get to town 6 or 7 days a week. I hated every second of it. I have better hings to do than drive all over. I need teleportation to become a reality so I don't have to mess with it.

makeup_girl said...

1. I am one of "those" moms, I guess. I got the kids' pics taken when they were about 1 month old, then at 3,6,9,12,18, and 24 months. I move it around a little if there is a holiday in there. In fact, I need to get G's 2 year pic taken, but I'm waiting until next month so I get get their Easter/Spring pics taken together.
I don't look down on other parents who don't do this, but I personally like to have them taken.

2. I had a baby shower when I was pregnant with Ella. I was told that it was not proper to have another one when I was pregnant with Grayson.

3. I don't think I'm an competative parent, but I do like to ask when other kids accomplished certain things. For instance, I often ask when other kids started talking. I am always a little worried that G is behind.

4. I also grew up in a small town where it took 20 minutes to get to anything exciting. It doesn't bother me that I have to drive into C-U for stuff or playdates. It bothers me when people think that St. Joseph is SO far.

Amy said...

Ooh, I just have to follow up. We had family photos taken last Saturday because The Joker's brother is going to Iraq or Afganistan and wanted us all together for a photo. Any way, we got the proofs back today with a price list for things we want to order.

$48 FOR AN 8X10!!!!!
ONE. ONE 8X10 COSTS $48!!!
Who can afford that? Not I! That means if I wanted to get 3 8x10's of differnt poses it would cost me $144. I DON'T THINK SO!!

I'll be going to JC Penny from now on.

SunnyD said...

Make_up girl, what I'm wondering is how did you know you wanted to do that? Did your parents do it? Or was it something you saw others in your family doing? I had never heard of it before I was at the library and a couple of moms were talking. X-man was 3 months old and their kids were 1 and they were all talking about Sears v. Picture people and where they had gone before... my brain was completely frazzled by it because my family didn't do annual pictures until elementary school -- when the school did them. I swear I'm not judging. I'm just really curious!

makeup_girl said...

I honestly don't know why I've done it. I didn't have a really good camera when the kids were younger, so I knew my pictures would never live up to professional standards. I also knew that the kids change so much during their first two years, that I wanted to document as much as I could.
As a child, we usually only had professional pictures taken once or twice a year. Usually at Christmas.
Perhaps it's my love of photography? I would seriously take the kids in every 3 months for the rest of their childhood if I could afford it.