"That" Family Member

I have a certain family member who is not my biggest fan. She’s never been outright rude to me, but she’s made enough comments to let me know that she thinks I’m pretty much a joke. I found out I’ll be having to interact with her again in the future and it made me remember all the little snide remarks she’s made to me since finding out I was pregnant.

My thought is that everyone has someone like this in their lives and can relate to the negative vibe that people give you when you tell them something you’re just so excited about and they shoot you down.

I said: I’m planning on a natural labor. It’s something I really want to at least try.
She said: (eye roll) Good luck with that. You’ll be begging for the drugs before you’re even ½ way done.
End result: 24 hours of natural labor, ending in a c-section. Do I regret it? In some way, yes, but over all, not at all.

I said: My son will be exclusively breastfed for the first six months.
She said: (eye roll) Yeah, we’ll see. It’s NOT that easy.
End result: She was right. It wasn’t easy. But I’m one determined bitch and I’ll be damned, that kid has never eaten an ounce of formula in his life.

I said: I don’t want to buy store baby food. I’m more comfortable with making my own.
She said: (eye roll) Who has time for that? Besides, baby won’t eat that kind of homemade food. Just buy some Gerber food.
End result: My son hates Gerber. He DOES get store bought food once in a while when we’re out in public. But even then, it’s the super organic, natural crap. The other 95% of the time he’s eating mama’s homemade food.

I said: He’ll be sleeping in our room for the first 6+ months. I’m not comfortable with him sleeping so far away.
She said: (eye roll) That’s crazy, you’ll never get any sleep.
End result: True, I never get any sleep. But, at least I feel better knowing my kid is okay at all times. And he’s over 7 months old and still sleeps in the crib by our bed. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I said: I need to do some reading on teething and breastfeeding.
She said: There’s nothing to read. They teethe. That’s all there is to it.
End result: True, but I’ve still found my reading to be somewhat helpful and offer some good advice.

I said: I’ll be staying home with our baby until he’s older or my husband finds a job that will work with my hours.
She said: Just use a daycare! There’s nothing wrong with that!
End result: There is nothing wrong with daycare. I agree. It just doesn’t make any sense for us financially. I’d be working 40 hours a week to make around 100 dollars. No thanks!

I know she means well, but it gets a little old when there’s never anything positive coming out of her mouth. She never had kids of her own so I’m guessing a lot of this crap is just stuff she’s heard or seen from other people’s children. I still tolerate her but I’ll be avoiding a few topics next time we get together.